Requiem
by Emperor Kumquat
Summary: This crumbling and eerie mansion seemed to be the perfect place for this year's Halloween party. However, everyone becomes a suspect when a note is revealed with crimson-soaked edges and a chilling message. As all turn on each other, the pressure to find the people rapidly disappearing only increases. In a battle against time and forces they cannot control, madness is inevitable.
1. And So It Begins

**Thirty-seven characters are thrown together into a detailed game of madness.**

 **There will be no pairings confirmed.** **All Hetalia characters belong to Hidekaz Himaruya. All quotes belong to William Golding's Lord of the Flies.** **Rated T with a strong warning for violence/gore, horror, and possible death.**

* * *

 _They accepted the pleasures of morning, the bright sun, the whelming sea and sweet air, as a time when play was good and life so full that hope was not necessary and therefore forgotten._

* * *

"I wonder how old it is?"

After Italy's comment, Germany focused in on the mansion they were arriving to. Underfoot, the gravel crunched as they continued down the straight, damp path with an irregular beat caused by the differing paces of the three walkers. As they moved onwards, more of the place was visible as the trees on either side of them began to thin out. The foliage pulled away and so suddenly the awe-inspiring size was no longer concealed. The building stretched tall and wide, with a completely flat face that gave it a bold personality which overwhelmed those standing small before it. There were gray windows topping each other as indication of the many floors, and the walls that were made of old stone were chipped and smooth from erosion.

The black trees were left behind as they strode into the open as the path now cut through an unkempt lawn of large, mossy stones and different shades of grass. The three padded up the two stone steps, and Prussia reached out to grasp the cold, curved handle. The door swung inwards before he could touch it, and their eyes were cast down at the small shape clad in soft fabric made of patches of baby pink and white. It raised its head, looking up under a floppy hood at them with wide, sparkling eyes of excitement.

The little mouth opened and exclaimed, "Hi, everybody! Welcome!"

At the sound of the voice, Romania turned from the table and strolled over to the arrivals at the door. He patted Moldova on the head affectionately before saying, "Yes, welcome! We're so glad you guys could make it."

Prussia, Germany, and Italy politely wiped their shoes on the mat before stepping onto the polished hardwood floor that glowed under the light of the chandelier. In front of the grand, mahogany-carpeted staircase was a long table that was covered with a hanging white sheet topped with fine dishes of pastries, cookies, custard cakes, and then bowls of candied nuts, glazed fruit, chocolate-dipped strawberries, and icy punch with frozen wild berries clustered at the bottom. Automatically Italy was drawn here, and he came up to the side of a group of chatting people already gathered there and tasting the delicacies.

France greeted him with a ring of merriment painting his voice, "Hello, Italy!"

Italy opened his mouth into a smile, and he momentarily forgot the food as he looked over the others.

"Wow! What great costumes!" he exclaimed.

The blood-speckled mime grinned from behind his makeup of white and black, and his eyes twinkled contently from the compliment despite the two fat, black tears that ran down one of his cheeks. Behind him, wild-haired Edward Scissorhands clacked his claws together experimentally. The makeup that gave the man pale skin and sunken eyes would have made the person hard to identify if it were not for the thick eyebrows that revealed the wearer to be none other than Britain. However, the ripped, black-robed figure beside him could not be identified behind the black-eyed and mouthed white mask under the hood.

"Who is that beside you?" Italy asked while swaying goodnaturedly.

A low voice stressed darkly, " _Do you want to die?_ "

Italy stiffened and covered his mouth with a hand before the mask was ripped away and America's boisterous laugh rang out.

"Yo, dude!" he laughed. "Ghostface? Haven't you ever seen _Scream_?"

Britain scoffed through his teeth at America's idea of humor, and Italy shook his head as response.

"Classic American slasher film! Wow, you really haven't seen…?"

Germany stopped paying attention to the rest of the conversation as he and Prussia dipped their heads down to look at the food. Beside them, Bulgaria added extra plates and utensils onto the table with a clatter before retreating to the kitchen once more. Germany briefly looked after him before glancing up at the orange and black streamers that crossed the high ceiling in a web and dropped down ribbons that held matching colours of balloons. The corners and railings were decorated with stretched-out wads of fake cobwebs that had little black spiders nestled into them. Hardly any surface around the room, Germany noticed, was not in some way spiced up with Halloween merchandise. Models of rats and creatures hung by walls or peeked out from the darkness, and in front of them, a plastic skeleton sat crossed-legged on the stairs, next to one of the speakers playing out classic Halloween music.

"Really nice setup they have this year," Germany commented.

Prussia nodded as he slipped his archer's bow into his quiver to take a knife and slide it into one of the strawberry cakes.

From below one of Germany's golden wings, a voice piped up, "You really think so?"

Moldova was back at their side, and he sneaked an arm through the brothers to pull out a dipped strawberry by the leaf.

"Oh, er, _ja_ ," he confirmed.

The child beamed and said, "That's great!"

Romania, who had once again been close to Moldova's side, heard them and said, "Yes, my little brother did the decorating himself!"

"But I had some help," Moldova said modestly, and everyone's attention was switched to Bulgaria as he returned with more cups and then adjusted the position of a candle-holding skull on the table.

Romania drifted away to answer the door once again as Moldova sided Bulgaria and nibbled at his berry. Germany quickly gave a nod to Bulgaria and said, "Good job."

Bulgaria blinked in confusion, then broke out into a smile. He replied, "Oh, thanks!"

Prussia had dropped his slice of cake onto the plate, and as he turned to lean against the table with it, he immediately straightened with a perk when he saw a certain pair of people hanging by Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

"What?" Prussia exclaimed with a grin. "They're here already?"

He peeled away from the table and left Germany with the others as he crossed the room. Prussia stumbled when he nearly tripped over Sealand, who had excitedly raced by his feet while leading a feathered micronation that Prussia could not identify towards an interesting decoration. He continued on and dodged around Spain, Portugal, and Romano on his trajectory to the group he was keeping his eyes on. Soon it was that despite the music and distance, Germany could hear Prussia's classic, rambunctious laugh, and through the crowd Germany saw him poking at the prim, white cravat of Austria's somber butler costume.

"Good evening, Mr. Germany."

A samurai-armored Japan came up to his side.

"Ah, Japan," Germany nodded to him. "Nice costume. Is it authentic?"

"Why yes, it is…"

For an hour, guests only continued to flock in, create groups, and mingle. People commented on each other's costumes, showed off their own, and swayed slightly to the music while they conversed. More life brightened up the room as it got filled up, and once the Nordics arrived, the dance floor was considered more. Denmark pounced into the middle of the room where he had found a free space, and began to tap his feet while swinging his fake executioner ax in circles. Norway looked to the side and sighed while Iceland stood beside him with no interest obvious on his face, although Finland was smiling a bit at Denmark's energy.

As some others began to join in the dance, a grotesque scarecrow greeted Finland. Sweden raised an eyebrow and watched over from the side as the creature soon revealed itself to be Estonia. A less terrifyingly-dressed person had also followed Estonia here: a brown rabbit with a full and silky chest of white fur. Latvia said nothing as Estonia grew focused on the Nordics, deciding only to daydream as he stood by and was ignored.

If his floppy ears could have, they would have perked when Ukraine called him and snapped him back to reality. A witch with a pointed black hat, cloak, and flowing long skirt approached him while gazing over him with gentle eyes.

"What a cute costume!" she smiled.

Latvia started to say something polite in return, but his voice turned into a nervous stutter as a demon of black and dark metallic purple crept up behind Ukraine. He trailed off, then tip-toed after Estonia when the other drifted away after Finland. Latvia toned down his shivering as he created distance between himself and Russia, and meanwhile the sharp violet eyes only blinked after him curiously, wondering the reason for the Baltic's sudden departure.

When Ukraine wanted to grab some punch, Russia followed her again while the skeleton zombie still clung to his curved, wired tail. Some shied away from the table due to the demon's presence, but Russia did not notice this as he looked at the table with enthusiastic interest. He saw the dipped strawberries, and he picked one up carefully between his pointed black claws, and he showed it to the grinning skull face behind him. It accepted the fruit into its hand, and then Belarus slipped off her mask to eat it.

The music in front of them cut out to be replaced by Romania's voice as he strode towards them with a microphone in hand.

"Welcome, everybody!" he announced as he circumnavigated the table to stand on the stairs so that everyone could see him, "to this year's spooky Halloween party! I can already see the spectacular costumes here tonight, and we'll see who wins the vote for the best costume contest later this evening. Now, we'll get on with the itinerary and fill in anybody who arrives late, shall we?"

By now everyone had quieted and gathered by the main entrance.

"I was thinking that with this big mansion to explore, a real challenge would be a scavenger hunt, with a prize at the end for the person or group that brings back the most items!" Romania exclaimed. "The lists are ready, so go on, make your groups, and then get everything you need from my little brother!"

Immediately people turned to each other, waved their hands back and forth, and agreed or disagreed to groups.

"You would only slow me down!"

"Oh come on, Britain," France said. "With two of us we could get the searching done faster!"

"How 'bout four?" America piped up as he came over with Canada hovering right behind him.

Meanwhile, Estonia tried to get into the Nordic group.

"You have room for one more, don't you?" Estonia asked Finland.

"Well," he shrugged. "I guess we do, but you wouldn't want to be leaving Latvia alone, would you?"

"He can just be going with Lithuania," Estonia said. "After all, this is the Nordic exclusive group, am I right?"

Sweden stared down at the Baltic without saying a word.

Switzerland and Liechtenstein were the first in line to receive their paper and pencil. They drew back as Germany, Italy, and Japan came up, followed by Prussia, who had decided to go solo. Ukraine separated from Russia and Belarus to take her own, and Poland and Lithuania went up afterwards. Latvia caught sight of this and felt too awkward to ask them now if he could join, so he as well was one of the few who decided to go do the scavenger hunt alone.

Romania called out after a minute, "Everyone ready?"

He received confirmation, and then he raised up a thumb.

"Alright! Everyone has an hour. Listen up for the microphone, or just check the clocks around the house to be back in time!"

Moldova pattered up to Romania, who smiled and passed the microphone into his small hands. The little ghost exclaimed sweetly, "No cheating! Okay, everyone can start!"

Some people immediately took the leader role and waved their groups away. Everyone scattered in different directions with their groups, some splitting and going down the halls to the left and right while others curved around the table and flew up the stairs. Prussia was one of them, although he leapt over the table, barely avoided booting a pumpkin pie, then took the lead and charged far ahead of everyone else.

Germany shook his head and scanned at the paper with Japan analytically as they went up the stairs a little more calmly.

"Now this one," he said before beginning to read, " _Fourth floor: Blood beside the square view over the graves._ What do you think?"

"It might be a window," Japan replied. "I remember seeing behind the house a very big cemetery."

"Then the square would make sense." Germany nodded.

On the fourth floor, after coming up to the top of the stairs, a grand, square window did indeed meet them. The moment their eyes were laid upon it, a certain captivation overtook them all and they could not resist the influence that it had upon them. All they could do was marvel at its size and impressive view, and the three of them came up to it to look out past the dimming film of filth on the outside glass at a great, flat field that stretched on far out and wide until it crashed into the walls of forest at its sides. Tilted crosses covered the field alongside squat tombstones, numbering altogether into the hundreds.

Italy blinked over it longer after Germany and Japan had broken away from their trance and remembered the challenge.

"Blood…" Japan murmured before pointing at a slumped skeleton beside the window that had a bloody cleaver embedded into its skull.

When investigated, a little paper taped to the back of the cleaver was found. A grinning emoticon was there, to which Italy was told to quickly sketch. When other footsteps came up the stairs, the three drifted away from the spot so that they could not give any hints to the arriving Poland and Lithuania.

Poland leapt to the top and his eyes glimmered as he caught sight of the window. He ran up to it, exclaiming, "Wow, look at that totally creepy graveyard!"

Lithuania glanced up, yet he did not comment upon it but rather murmured about the clue he was reading. Poland put both his hands up onto the glass and he announced, "Like, it's so huge! And we're so far up too so- it would seem bigger walking through it!"

The window made a protesting creak as Poland continued pressing against it. Lithuania told him, "Come on, we've got to hurry if we are wanting to win this thing."

Lithuania led the way down the hall to the left, venturing into the dimly-lighted hallway that was silent from lack of activity. He looked around for a light switch, but he could not locate one, and so they were stuck wandering through the gloom. Here, all he could hear were their footsteps on the carpet; a sound that was calm and quiet for the air on this higher level was so still and contained little dust particles that floated about peacefully. The sounds of people further away, calling out at each other with dampened anger, were muffled and sounded so soft, as though they were murmurs from another plane.

Even Poland seemed to notice this, and the urge itched at him to add something to this sudden, almost unnatural silence.

"So anyway, what's your opinion about my costume? Don't you think it is just super cool?"

Poland fixed the police hat on his head and then tapped at the ring of keys at his hip so that they jingled.

"Yeah, if you say so," Lithuania agreed halfheartedly as he tried to maintain his train of thought.

 _Find the rot in your reflection on the fourth floor._

Now that he saw the rectangular mirror pinned to the wall at the end of the hall, the sentence was no longer so puzzling. He wished that he could have been able to find the light switch because now as he came up to the mirror, it was so hard to see his own reflection in the darkness. Poland stepped up beside him and looked at them both in the mirror with a placid smile on his face. Lithuania scanned over them, searching the mirror until Poland raised a finger and pointed at side.

"There," he said.

Lithuania focused in. Under his fingertip, a strangely-shaped form of mottled brown and grey was seen, and soon he recognized that this shape had a human figure to it. Above Poland's fingernail, two black eyes of empty orbits stared at them from under a veil of frizzy, gray hair. Lithuania turned his head slowly and checked down the hall for the figure, but he soon found himself having trouble locating it. He glanced back at the mirror, where Poland was still indicating the gaping, dark hole of a mouth.

Poland noticed his delay, and he turned and looked down the hall with him.

"What? What is the problem?" he asked.

Lithuania replied, "I don't see it."

Poland narrowed his eyes and searched with him. Then he pointed again and said, "It is right there, further down the hall. Do you see it now? In the shadows- we just missed it completely when we walked by."

A little further from where Lithuania had been focusing his search upon, it was indeed there. It stood still in the murk, with eyes that continued to stare down the hall blankly at them.

"The symbol must be on it," Lithuania uttered as they continued to watch it.

Poland said, "Yeah, but it might be like, so hard to see with all of this darkness!"

They both remained standing there, staring at the figure. They waited for the other to make the first move. There were a few odd moments where their feet felt detached and unmovable, but then Lithuania remembered that his still belonged to him. He set a foot forward, swallowing and then leading Poland forward. Lithuania neared it slowly, unconscious of the bunching of muscles in his legs as he neared it.

It made no movement as they came closer.

Lithuania hesitated a metre away from it, and he glanced up into its black eyes. When it remained motionless, he came closer and looked over its body. He reached out a pale hand and touched its arm. Under the torn cloth of its outfit, he felt plastic. His heart slowed as a calm swept over him, and he now circled around the figure comfortably until he found on its arm a square piece of paper that glowed in the darkness.

A screech rang out beside his ear and he jolted away with electrified muscles as hands snatched his shoulders. Poland had cried out a sharp yelp and now clung onto him from behind with a white-knuckled death grip as Lithuania stumbled backwards. Poland peeked over his shoulder and stared at the figure in front of them, and when it failed to turn and advance towards them with a convulsing mouth, he laughed off his quiver.

"Ah, it was just button!" Poland exclaimed.

Lithuania sighed and felt the hands release him. The Baltic came back to the arm and was more careful this time when he smoothed out the paper to identify what was there.

"It's a… an eggplant."

They heard footsteps approaching towards them from the direction of the staircase. They turned their heads and saw a tall shape stalking towards them flanked by a smaller one, and both were quite recognizable to these two.

"Is everything alright?" Russia's voice rang out innocently. "I heard the screaming."

"A-Ah," Lithuania said. "It was just…"

"Is this clue?" Russia cocked his head.

Lithuania did not respond immediately, however he did not need to, for Russia came up beside him and looked over the zombie, soon finding the paper as well. The creature screamed again when touched, but Russia gave no reaction to it as he went on to tell Belarus what the symbol was so she could draw. Lithuania edged away from these two and he cast one last final glance at Belarus's skeletal face as they passed by. Before they headed back down the stairs, Lithuania saw the clue for the window and swiftly found as well the emoticon behind the cleaver. Once he and Poland were both thumping down the stairs, sounds of the other groups grew suddenly louder.

They did not know what had provoked it, but as they came onto the third floor, they came across Britain and France bickering and at each other's throats again. America merely laughed in the background and Canada nervously raised his hands and gasped, "Be careful by the stairs!"

Somewhere downstairs a shrill scream erupted and was followed by laughter. Seychelles was heard now chuckling in relief then chastising the culprits with good humor. Similar instances could be heard all around the mansion on the lower floors where most of the groups were now crashing into each other.

When Denmark pounced around a corner and tried to attack the group of micronations with his ax, he tripped over a speaker's cord and tasted the carpet. His yell of surprise had been followed by a momentary buzz in the speakers, and as the music returned, Norway breathed out a chuckle while Denmark peeled himself off the ground.

It happened so quickly that most people stopped taking the competition so seriously. People took advantage of the dark corners, popped out and scared each other, and in certain places, roughhousing and chasing were common with a lot of laughter all around. People started vacating the upper levels of the house to leave behind the heavy silence and darkness to be where all the excitement was. Some even returned to the main entrance to take short breaks and sample the food while joking around and nudging each other.

"Hey, this is a really fun party!" Spain cried while smiling brightly at Romania, who was standing at the front with Moldova seated upon his shoulders.

Romania's eyes shone and he beamed at him in delight. Spain carried on with Portugal and Romano, now looking back at the paper and reading off the next clue.

Higher up, Prussia laughed and trotted up beside Austria and Hungary.

"Check out how many I have!" Prussia crowed while flapping his paper briefly in their faces. "I'm going to win!"

Hungary smirked and shoved him to the side, saying, "In your dreams! Like we would let you take the prize!"

Prussia skipped back to them and said, "Well, how many do you guys have?"

When he stood up on his toes to look over the paper in Austria's hand, Austria whipped it out of sight and said, "No, I will not let you copy ours!"

Prussia laughed again and hopped ahead to the next flight of stairs up. Hungary and Austria did not follow him, but instead took the stairs down along with Germany, Italy, and Japan, who were also departing from the upper floors. Prussia trotted up the stairs alone, and once at the top, he immediately noticed the change in atmosphere as he inhaled the heavy air that simultaneously pressed down upon him. He turned his head at a soft sound, and he watched Poland and Lithuania returning down a hall they had just searched.

These two walked up to him, seemingly pursuing another clue, or notably, Lithuania was. The other seemed more engrossed in conversation despite how the other was staring down at the paper in full seriousness. As Prussia stood there however, watching them approaching, there was a brief moment in where Lithuania's eyes lifted from the paper and met Prussia's rosy ones with a sharp, emerald gaze. They strolled past him slowly, and Poland continued to chat although he had also turned his head purposely to regard him.

Prussia began to walk, and he headed down the shadowy hall by himself to investigate the clue the other two had just pursued. He found the symbol stuck to a rat statue in the corner, and he whirled around and headed back. Yet, as he walked away, he became conscious of how his pace was slowing. There was something about the act of putting more distance between himself and the wall at the end of the hall that put a jitter in his heart and made him open up his senses. As though the amount of darkness being put behind him was sensed, palpable- and the increasing amount of it unnerved him.

He realized the silence of the empty level, as he was the only one now here on the third floor. So suddenly after the disappearance of everyone else's excitement and noise, did a certain air overtake the halls. Something felt different now to Prussia.

Something... _off_.

He peeked over his shoulder behind him. He saw nothing there, but still when he turned back to look in front of him, his eyebrows were furrowed and his lips were drawn out thin. He made it back to the staircase, checked his list under the light here, and then tentatively stepped towards the next flight of stairs. He looked up at it, and saw a piece of a large window. The piece grew into a whole as he headed upwards and more of it came into view. He stepped up to it and stared out over the expansive cemetery. His eyes floated over the uneven rows of graves before they then noticed far out into the very corner of the field a dirty, white building that stood alone. His eyes flickered over to the solitary, dark pines behind it, and he blinked rapidly in confusion, although what he had believed he had seen among them had already disappeared.

When he sneezed, his ears echoed with the sound of silence. He checked over the skeleton beside him and stretched out his paper on the wall to draw the symbol that was on the cleaver. The soft sound of his pencil sketching was soothing, and he felt a little calm from it. He turned and considered the fifth floor, which had some lights already on up there, but was as silent as the two floors below it had been.

If not... _more_.

He considered the paper once again. Many clues seemed to be situated up there. He looked back and forth between the paper and the stairs before him, wondering why the heaviness in his gut was rooting him to this spot. However, he soon was swayed by the growing temptation for victory, and he finally forced himself forward.

Prussia caressed his hand over the railing, and the first few stairs creaked underfoot as he walked up to the fifth floor.

* * *

The time grew near for all of the groups to gather in the main room. One-by-one, they returned and stood by, counting off the numbers of emoticons they had located, and some smiling as they appreciated the large amount that they had collected.

As the last few groups were returning, Romania paused the music and picked up his microphone. It was then at that moment, while the groups were communicating with their members, that a very low sound resonated very quietly throughout the mansion, as though muffled by a pillow. A few people looked up and around in confusion, trying to locate where the sound had come from, and they only caught sight of Romania looking at his microphone with a perplexed expression before glancing behind him.

He lifted a shoulder in a slight shrug and he tapped a finger on the microphone experimentally. It worked fine, and it brought everyone into a silence. He waved his hands at them, indicating that they were still waiting and would not begin yet. Romania watched the clock, scanning over the gathered people and noticing that many were running late. He decided to turn off the microphone for now and speak with Bulgaria, until the Nordics and the group of four composed of America, Canada, France, and Britain returned ten minutes later. Then, once the room seemed full, he got everyone's attention purposefully this time.

"Alright, let's see how everyone did!" He raised a hand up. "Now everyone who has gathered over five symbols, raise your cards!"

Almost all of the assembly raised theirs high with pride.

"Six!"

The arms stayed up.

"Eight!"

Many dropped until only four groups remained. They eyed each other and grinned as Romania called out the next number.

"Nine!"

Russia dropped his hand with the smallest exhale of disappointment that was echoed by Canada as his group went out of the competition as well.

"Ten!"

Poland and Lithuania dropped, and Italy gave a little cheer as he waved his group's winning card high in the air.

"And there we have it!" Romania proclaimed, and a polite applause arose in the room.

Bulgaria stepped away from Romania and went into the kitchen trailed by an eager and joyful Moldova. He returned with something large in his hands that was concealed by a black towel, although its glass bottom was slightly visible. Bulgaria held it in front of everybody for all to see while Germany was invited to step up and take a hold of the corner of the towel. Japan and Italy stood on either side of him, Japan with curious expectation in his eyes while Italy wavered in anticipation.

The towel was pulled off with a flourish, revealing but single content that stood in the center under the glass lid. People blinked at it and cocked their heads, unsure, and even Bulgaria's eyes drifted down to gaze at it in confusion.

"Huh?" he uttered.

Romania as well, seemed surprised at what lay there, and he strolled over to him.

"Oh, did you want to continue the game?" Romania asked. "I didn't know you planned this."

"No," Bulgaria murmured. "I… these were supposed to be cupcakes. Really cool, detailed ones that Moldova made."

A few drops of red were smeared on the bottom of the glass, and standing above it, a folded piece of paper faced the crowd with crimson-soaked edges forming an ominous and decorative border. In black ink cursive, a sentence stood out boldly for all to see.

It merely said, _Find him_.

Germany narrowed his eyes at it. When his voice exited his throat, it turned from a strong tone to a hesitant one.

"Is this… a joke?"

Romania cleared his throat and looked around the room. He then said, "Um… would whoever did this, please step up?"

People glanced around at each other, but no one said anything.

"No seriously," he continued. "Not that you will get in trouble, it's just that well, we want to know where the real prize went."

Still, only silence reigned in the room. People looked all around, searching each other's expressions, but only found the same confusion and worry. They started to murmur to those close by, commenting and trying to guess the culprit.

And then, a quiet voice lifted up that was heard by everyone in the room. Canada asked, "What if it isn't a joke?"

All voices were hushed.

Bulgaria placed the glass container on the table, and he raised the lid while Germany slipped his hand under to grab the note. He pulled it out, avoiding the red, and he glanced over it again. Carefully, he flipped it and looked at the bottom.

"There's more…" he muttered.

He turned the upside-down paper so that he could read it. In mere seconds, the blood had drained from Germany's face and his eyes shone. People immediately jolted, and began to shiver from panic.

France cried out, "What? What does it say?"

Germany's voice was hoarse as he finally read what was in front of him.

 _"If anyone calls the police or leaves this place, he will die."_

Instantly the room erupted into yelps and cries of terror, and people pressed close to each other to stare around the room with wild eyes.

Germany called out, "Hold on! Quiet down, everyone. We need to figure out who is missing."

People glanced around, but it was hard for them to figure out who it was, for the crowd blocked out some people from their view. Romania instead took out from his pocket another piece of paper and passed it to Germany.

"This is a list of all the people who told me they could make it."

Germany checked out the guest list and he said, "We must do an attendance. Raise your hand and shout when you are called."

He then yelled out, "China!"

He waved and responded, "Yes, I am here!"

"Vietnam!"

"Yes!" she cried.

"Thailand!"

There was no response, but Romania said, "He hasn't shown up yet. Neither has India, Taiwan, and a lot of the Asian countries. I don't understand why though. They never called."

Germany skipped over the names Romania told him to, and then he continued with, "Russia!"

"Here."

"Ukraine and Belarus!"

For a long time, he just kept getting confirmations.

"Belgium and the Netherlands!"

"Not here either," Romania said.

"Greece, Turkey, and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus!"

"No."

It turned out that about a vast amount of people who were supposed to be here had never arrived.

"That's… odd," Germany commented, to which Romania could only spread out his hands helplessly.

Then he started shouting out again, "Alright. North and South Italy!"

Two verifications.

"Austria and Hungary!"

Two more.

"Prussia!"

The only sound that returned to him was that of the rhythmic clicking of the grandfather clock in the background. Germany lifted his eyes and searched through the crowd, who had also started looking around themselves as well. Germany called out his brother's name once more, but still no answer returned to him.

It hit everyone so suddenly. Every ounce of happiness and fun was snatched away from them, and the most cold seriousness replaced it. There was now confirmation that someone was missing, and now the horror of what that note meant could not have been more real.

" _Real blood_ ," came the collective whisper. " _That is real blood._ "

Coldness filled Germany, and his eyes focused in on the smears of red just centimetres away from his fingernails. He quivered, and the paper slipped from his hand, riding the air lazily until it slid calmly across the floor towards the feet of the crowd. They stepped away a bit from it as though it was toxic, so terrified were they to get anything from that stained paper upon them.

Britain stepped up and threw out, "When and where was the last time he was seen?"

Austria said, "We talked to him around nine-thirty on the second floor."

After a short pause, Lithuania cleared his throat and said, "We saw him just after then, on the third floor."

And then Britain continued, "Was anyone else on the third floor at this time?"

Everyone shook their heads and started replying on their own.

"No, no, I stayed on the first floor after that," China said.

"We were here by the table…" France murmured.

Seychelles added, "After I went to the bathroom, I never went back up to or past the second floor."

"We were all here, weren't we, guys?" Denmark said while glancing around at his group.

And now people were starting to ask for each other's confirmations about their locations.

"You saw me by the-"

"Yeah, I did!"

"You were by-"

"And then I was chasing you-"

No one in particular stood out. Finally, above the hubbub, America stood up and joined Germany and Britain at the front.

"Alright, listen up!" America said, a voice of authority overtaking his usual, carefree one. "This is serious. Someone here is responsible for this, and they are hiding among us!"

The people before him were challenged with sharp blue eyes. After he had said this, the nervousness and fear increased and people desperately glanced at the faces around them again.

America clenched a fist and yelled, "I say we figure them out, make them take us to Prussia, then we can bring them to justice, ending this as quickly as possible! Everyone with me?"

Having nothing else to do or offer, the people nodded back at him. France gained some motivation and he walked up and joined the front group to flank Britain's side.

France exclaimed, "That's right! If we can just single out the person who would do this, then there is no need for a search party!"

America added, "Alright, so who do we know here that really hates Prussia? Someone who would be capable of doing something like this?"

So quickly, eyes turned back. Russia stiffened.

"It was not me- I swear it!" he protested.

America said, "Where were you at nine-thirty?"

"I was on the first floor, with Belarus…"

"What?" Lithuania called out. "We saw you on the fourth floor around then!"

Russia inhaled sharply and quickly said, "Maybe I am a little wrong on the time. But after we saw you and Poland, we went right back down."

Belarus removed her mask and nodded in agreement.

America asked, "Did anyone pass by you on the stairs?"

Russia nodded and said, "Latvia did."

Latvia shrunk into himself as people quickly loomed over him.

"Did he?" Germany demanded.

Latvia clutched his hands to his chest and quivered.

"I-I, yeah… I think so…"

"You _think_ so?" America challenged.

"Y-Yes- I mean, I did see him," Latvia stammered. "Er- them."

Canada stepped past Latvia, coming to the front to face America.

"Now hold on," he said softly. "We can't just start blaming each other when we have no real evidence. I say we should split up into groups and start looking."

"Quite right," Britain agreed. "Once we find Prussia, we'll find out who this bloke really is."

For a few seconds, nobody did anything. All the eyes stared at the five at the front, who had so quickly announced themselves as leaders and had started to handle the situation for them. At this time no one had realized it, but they had wanted nothing more than to allow this to happen for they wanted, or rather, needed- to have people take charge over them. To have people to pour all their hope and expectations on. The adjustment was all so easy to adapt to, so nobody argued when they were commanded into certain groups. These groups did however, resemble a lot the previous groups for the scavenger hunt, although now they had merged with others to increase their numbers.

Germany stared at the collection of groups before him, inhaling deeply and setting his jaw rigid in utter austerity. This golden-winged warrior had acquired something in his eyes that was dark and swirling behind his pupils like living mist. Whatever new presence that had overcome Germany in just the last minute now stared at everyone before it with a piercing glare. The rigidity and flexing of his muscles was more like him, but the mood was nothing at all alike what they were used to because of that foreign air arising from him.

The collection of costumed people stood before Germany like squads of soldiers waiting to be commanded. Through clenched teeth he exhaled harshly, a sharp hiss on the back of his teeth, and then he barked out at them all in a belligerent tone.

"No matter what, not one of us can leave until we find Prussia! The only way we are going to accomplish this is if we work together, is that understood? We will search every last corner of this place and tear it apart if we have to! We will stick together and watch each other's backs, so that when all of this is over, we will all get out of here with no one getting left behind!"


	2. The Reign of the Shadows

**This story is edited by the fantastic CastingWhiteShadows.**

* * *

 _The sun in the west was a drop of burning gold that slid nearer and nearer to the sill of the world. All at once they were aware of the evening as the end of light and warmth._

* * *

"Big brother," Liechtenstein whispered, "I'm scared."

Switzerland held her by the hand so that she stuck close to his side as they walked down the hall. His mind was in no way prepared to formulate a logical answer with soothing points, so he ended up emitting a stereotypical response to give her some sort of answer.

"Everything is going to be fine," he said.

The two people behind them cast their eyes to the walls, eyes flowing over the closed wooden doors on either side of the hall that were shadowed in thick black. Austria said nothing as his heart fluttered wildly in his chest, making his ribs feel bruised from the beats that could not be calmed. He turned an eye over to look at Hungary, and her paleness and the stiffness in her steps did nothing to console him.

He felt too close to the mist of shadows, and he pressed in closer to his group members. Noises of the other groups murmuring and walking drew away with a dying sigh, until nothing else remained to be heard. Their footsteps were soft on the floor, and this was the only sound here that soothed their ears only slightly from the agonizing silence.

A low, groaning creak came from the floor above, and the four froze temporarily to flash their eyes in both directions down the hall. When nothing else followed it, they crept forward once again with the hairs on the back of their necks raised. Under their sleeves, goosebumps pricked against fabric, and soon fingernails turned dark, to which the four people began to find pockets to stick their hands into. The further they went down this hall as they journeyed across the mansion, the more the warmth seemed to crawl away and hide from them.

The air felt like the sharp, autumn air of the outside, but no sweet tang of decaying leaves met their nostrils. Instead, it was just the same scent of dry walls and musty carpets. If it were not for this, then one of them could have assumed that a window had been left open.

They rounded the corner as they came closer to the right wing that they had been assigned to investigate. Another long hall met them that they would need to cross; one with merely two lights that offered hardly any visibility for them. There was a section of absolute blackness between them, and as they drew nearer to the barely penetrable wall of darkness with the one small light glowing at its end, their paces slowed.

They came to a stop under the light above them, and they stared at that wall of darkness.

"I really wish they could have given us flashlights," Switzerland muttered.

Hungary nodded and tentatively took a step towards the blackness. She exhaled to release the built up stress inside her, but that was when she saw the fog of her breath pass by her eyes. She stopped, now becoming more uncertain of the darkness in front of them.

When Liechtenstein saw Hungary hesitate, she looked up at Switzerland with wide and shimmering eyes.

"Brother…"

He cleared his throat and tried to step past Hungary. He did not want to demonstrate to Liechtenstein the anxiety that was growing within him and beginning to claw at him. As he faced the shadows, he as well did not make it so far before he froze with a breath held in his lungs. He stared as far down in front of them, the darkness grew and retracted as the light at the end of the hall flickered. Very cautiously, every one of them backed away without making a sound. They felt something pulling at their spines, an instinct that begged from within that their bodies take themselves away.

With one final flash, the light went out at the end of the hall, leaving nothing but the wall a metre away from their faces.

Austria started to say what hovered in all of their minds at that moment, "I think we should go ba-"

But then his voice cut off as they all heard a single creak on the floorboards in front of them. The group dragged their feet backwards, eyes widened and hearts thumping so loudly that the pulse in their ears threatened to drown out all other sounds. The ability to rationalize dissipated as though it had been sucked away by the freezing air around them. They quivered and waited for confirmation of their fears, retreating yet still not set on a decision.

Very slowly, starting softly at first as though an attempt had been made to quiet it, another creak has heard, a little closer to them. The third whine of the floorboards was never heard, for the four of them had torn away, sprinting around the corner and nearly stumbling over their feet before bolting down the hall. Switzerland clung to Liechtenstein's hand again, and he pulled her along while he pounded his legs and sliced the air with a tensed hand.

They skidded to a halt by the main entrance, where they bent over and gasped over their knees. Austria collapsed with exhaustion, crumbling and requiring Hungary to snatch him before his face hit the floor. There was no longer anyone left here, and still they were left in dreadful silence as they shivered and sweated.

Austria took his cravat in a violently trembling hand and he wiped the sweat off his brow. He spoke in a wavering voice and asked them, "What just happened?"

"I don't know," Hungary murmured.

"We have to go back though," Switzerland said. "We have to do our share of the searching."

Austria whispered through a dry throat, "Go... back?"

Hungary, although her hands were still icy and her eyes wide, said, "He is right - we have to. What if Prussia is there? We have to check this area like we were told to."

Austria nodded slightly and tried rising. His legs wobbled heavily, and Hungary held onto him as he threatened to fall once more. He quivered in her arms, a large part from the weariness in his body from the physical exertion he had placed on himself, and the other part for the same reason as the rest of the group.

Then very slowly, they collected themselves and started to advance back down the hall.

* * *

A group of four composed of Vietnam, China, Japan, and Seychelles padded along slowly with eyes scanning every direction around them. They crept forward at a snail's pace; stiff, and for the most part with hands itching to have some kind of weapon to cling to their chests tightly.

The left wing of the third floor was as equally quiet as the first floor. Now that everyone had spread apart from each other for a grim purpose, there were no places in the house filled with excitement and laughter. Everywhere held that thick, utter silence. The music was gone now, as though the house had been quieted down so that its inhabitants could go to sleep. From this, a feeling arose that reminded everyone of the late hours they were coming to while they were wandering around the mansion.

"I wish we could have at least left the music on," Seychelles said.

"I agree," Vietnam murmured. "It's too… quiet."

After the brief conversation faded away, it seemed even more so.

In order to break the silence once more and alleviate their anxiety, Seychelles rubbed her hands together before adding, "Say, don't you all find it colder up here?"

China nodded back at her once and replied, "Yes, now that you mention it, it is rather cold."

They continued on and did not think much about the coldness until they found warmth hitting them suddenly. Japan seemed like he was about to point out this odd occurrence to the others, when below their feet came a deep-throated moan that was followed by a hysterical screech. They leapt with gasps and shouts, and in a flash all were sprinting back down the hall to the staircase, thumping down the stairs and then hurrying down the hall to the left on the second floor.

"Which group was below us?" Japan gasped out.

Vietnam replied, "I can't remember!"

They saw dark shapes moving at the end of the hall. The shadows twitched and moved around, and from them the group heard a jingle and made out the silhouette of rabbit ears.

"Is everyone okay?" Seychelles called out to the group.

Estonia's voice quivered as he responded, "Y-Yeah… Latvia just triggered the s-sensor."

A skeleton swathed in shredded black clothing hung by the wall. It was still and untouched but at the jittery movement of Poland, another moan emitted from it, and that low, deathly sound instantly sent a chill up their spines.

"We should turn it off," Lithuania murmured. "So that this doesn't happen again whenever people come by."

Lithuania came up to it and grasped it, digging through the cloth and searching for a switch. He leaned in close and nearly hugged the skeleton to him. Its skull face hung over his shoulder, its gaping mouth by his ear and moaning hauntingly into it. Lithuania shivered, and something in him demanded that he shake it off him and leap away as that cold and unnatural sound continued to emanate. However, he soon felt something rectangular and stiff under his middle finger, and he pulled it upwards and the sounds immediately ceased.

He let the skeleton go, and it slid its arms slowly down his until it fell into a slump against the wall. After that moment, all of them looked down the hall as another group arrived and hurried towards them.

"What happened here?" Denmark threw out.

"Everything's alright," Japan replied. "Nothing to worry about. It was just the Halloween decoration that scared everyone."

The two children huddled by Sweden's legs and trembled in fright. Even after the reassurance that no one had been attacked, they could not calm themselves so easily. So often had Ladonia been quick to spite the Nordic whose cape he now held onto, but now he had absolutely no desire to speak nor leave his side. Sealand continued to stare down the hall at the shadows of people, trying to recognize their forms.

He could not stand the uncertainty, so he asked the adults by him, "Who's down there? I see nine people, but who are they?"

And Finland, wanting to calm him, asked, "Who is all down there?"

"My group with Estonia, Latvia, and Poland," Lithuania replied.

China said, "Me, Vietnam, Seychelles, and Japan."

Sealand looked back at Finland with terror, and as they were nearer to a light source, Finland could see his facial expression.

"What? What is it?" Finland inquired.

"I…" Sealand whispered. "There are nine."

"The wraith," Sweden mumbled.

"N-No," Sealand shook. "I saw nine standing."

Ladonia checked down the hall, and he raised a finger and started to indicate the shadows while he counted.

"One, two, three, four."

Each of the silhouettes of China's group were counted off.

"Five, six, seven… eight…"

And then, his finger lifted slightly as he pointed a bit to the side of Estonia.

" _Nine_ ," he choked.

Denmark hollered, "Who's that on the left?"

"Me?" Lithuania answered.

"My left!"

"Oh-" Estonia answered. "Me."

"Who are beside you?"

"Just Latvia."

Finland breathed out shakily, "Oh my god…"

"Estonia!" Denmark hollered. "Get out of there - there's someone else beside you!"

The two other groups screeched while they burst apart in panic and sprinted down the hall. An explosion of fear alighted in Estonia, and he nearly crashed into Latvia as he flew to the side with a yell. His eyes looked to the wall beside him, but he could see nothing in the shadows and only sprinted away and trusted the yells of the other group.

The eight people skidded to a halt beside the Nordic-led group before casting their eyes backwards the way they had come. From this new angle however, they still could not see what they had been warned about.

"Wh-where…?" Estonia breathed.

"It just disappeared," Denmark said hoarsely. "But it was…"

He raised a finger and pointed down the hall and by the door Estonia had been close to.

"It was right beside you," Finland exhaled, crossing a hand over his chest and feeling his heartbeat.

All of them crept closer to the light by the staircase, continuing to be close to each other while talking and looking out into every direction with piercing eyes boring into the darkness.

Japan said, "You know, I am starting to get a really bad feeling about this place. I felt something strange a little bit before, when I was upstairs with Mr. Germany and Italy, but now there is no denying this feeling."

"I think I felt that way too," Latvia admitted, "but I tried ignoring it before because the creepy places are always scaring me anyways."

"But there is…" Vietnam murmured. "Something _off_ about this place."

Sweden agreed with a hum in his throat.

Lithuania uttered, "I usually don't feel this way at all when I am in other old mansions. But then..."

The Nordics and two micronations were regarded.

"You all saw that," Lithuania concluded.

Ladonia whispered, "I want to go home."

Through a tight throat, Vietnam replied, "But none of us can until we find him."

Everyone drew into an empathetic silence, and even the children did not bother to lament over the situation. Yet as they waited for nothing, stress began to flood back into them as they realized the remaining compulsion to return to their designated search locations.

Latvia parted his dry lips with a small clack sound before he whimpered, "We have to go back there..."

"Yeah…" Lithuania breathed.

Seychelles said, "And we…"

"Have to go back upstairs," China finished.

Even the Nordics seemed hesitant about leaving this spot under the light, but they ended up soon being the first to depart. Sweden and Finland went on ahead carefully down the stairs leading Sealand and Ladonia while Denmark took up the rear. China and Vietnam were the next to move, and they headed up the stairs side-by-side while Seychelles and Japan followed just behind.

A part of security that the remaining group had vanished as their numbers dwindled again. The four of them stared down the hall and at each other repetively.

"Do we seriously have to?" Poland exclaimed.

"We have to look for Prussia," Estonia replied.

Lithuania added, "He might be hurt. We have to suck it up and keep going."

Lithuania took a few steps towards the shadowed hall and glanced back at the others. Estonia stepped after him, and then when Lithuania got further ahead, Poland scampered after them. Latvia stood transfixed where he was, and soon the group noticed his absence and glanced back at him.

Latvia was white-faced and visibly shaking. When questioned about his reluctance, he said, "I can't move."

"What are you meaning?" Estonia asked.

"I'm trying but..."- his trembling increased- "But I can't!"

Stress increased in the other three, but then Lithuania consciously tried to keep his logic so he said rationally, "He's just too scared."

Lithuania walked back to him while the other two stayed.

"Come on," he said gently as he came closer. "We'll be fine."

"But think about what just happened!" Latvia gasped. "They saw a-"

"Maybe," Lithuania murmured. "It might have been the weird light though. Maybe one of our shadows was doubled. That is happening sometimes, you know? Yes. It was just the light, okay?"

Latvia took a quivering step forward.

Lithuania added, "The only thing that can hurt you here is another person. Don't worry. This is why we are together in a group. We can protect each other."

Latvia finally followed Lithuania down the hall and they met up with Estonia and Poland. They walked far down to the end, where they had been before, and as they passed the Halloween decoration and headed towards the next light source, Latvia checked all around them as they walked.

All of their shadows remained single and bold.

* * *

Twelve long bongs echoed around the house as various clocks took up the rhythm and sang along. One-by-one the groups returned to the main room, and it did not take long for them to whisper the things their groups had encountered. When the groups containing the five leaders returned, they heard the malaise and France spoke up.

"Come on, everybody, quiet now," he said. "Is everybody here?"

Eight groups announced their presences, and to the relief of all, nobody had gone missing.

"Alright," Britain said. "I heard some of what you all have been talking about. Now what seems to be the problem?"

Now, when asked about it, the groups seemed more reluctant to talk. The five leaders at the front noticed the fear tainting most of the faces with paleness, and then America pointed at Austria, stating, "You first. What did you find?"

"Nothing…" Austria murmured.

"Okay, then-"

As America pointed at the next group, Austria quietly added, "But some strange things did start to happen..."

America paused and glanced back at him. His hand dropped and he said, "What do you mean 'strange things'?"

Some of the other groups began to murmur their agreement. Germany then demanded, "How many groups here have encountered such 'strange things'?"

Five out of eight groups raised their hands.

"What happened?" Britain asked Austria.

"Well," Austria said. "We were all going to the end of the first floor just like we were told to, but then the light at the end of the hall turned off on its own, and we heard… _footsteps_ in the darkness- coming towards us."

"Footsteps?" France repeated.

"Are you sure it wasn't just the sound of the old house?" Germany contributed.

"Well, we came back after," Austria continued. "I mean - after we ran. The lights were all back on, but it was still so cold. We all could see our breaths, but then later it was perfectly fine and warm again. It was there before too, but the next time around we all felt cold in a different spot."

"We felt that too," Vietnam said. "Upstairs. There were cold spots."

People stared at the leaders for the next explanation.

Canada murmured, "Well, maybe it is just broken heating in the house. That might make some spots colder."

"No, that can't be right," Switzerland countered. "The drop was too sudden."

Norway and Iceland nodded along with Romano, Portugal, and Spain.

Then Portugal muttered, "What about the ghost prop hanging on the wall in the left wing? We were walking towards it, then it started swaying back and forth as though someone had pushed it."

"Don't you dare say that was the wind," Romano muttered.

Canada was swift to respond, "Look, everyone. It is getting late and we are all scared and tired. We're all going to start seeing things when there is nothing at all."

"How can we be imagining things," Denmark said, "when five of us all saw the same shadow beside Estonia?"

Germany only countered, "What were you doing with that group?"

Denmark replied, "We heard someone scream, and we came upstairs to check on them. China, Vietnam, Seychelles, and Japan were already there to see what had happened to the Baltics and Poland too. We came after, and we saw them all already together at the end of the hall. It was dark though, so from where we were standing and talking to them, we could mostly just see their silhouettes. But the thing is, there were nine shadows when there were only eight people."

"But even I think we were overreacting," Lithuania cut in. "It might have been just a trick of the light."

"It wasn't just a flat shadow," Finland said. "It had like a form to it. And, after Estonia moved, it still stayed still and then a second later-"

"It just vanished!" Sealand exclaimed.

Ladonia threw out, "Explain that!"

The five at the front looked between each other in silence, waiting to see who could come up with a logical answer first.

In the quiet, Moldova's voice was heard as he tugged on Romania's clothes and quietly said, "Don't you think we should tell them?"

"No," he replied. "That would only make things worse."

"What is it?" America called over.

"Nothing," Romania whispered.

Moldova tried to pipe up, "But this house has-"

When Romania shushed him, he went quiet.

Germany looked down at them, wondering whether to press the subject if it truly would make the others more fearful and unorganized. In the end, he became distracted by Ukraine's question.

"What are we all going to do now?" she had asked.

Germany tried, "Keep-"

"We can't," Canada murmured.

Germany whirled around to him.

"What do you mean?" he challenged. "My brother has been taken and you don't think we should look for him?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Germany," Britain said. "I think what he is getting at is that no one is able to continue on at this point. People are just getting scared, and that's not going to help the cause. What we need is a good rest, and then when it is light outside, the searching will be even easier."

"But we don't know"- Germany's jaw clenched- "If Prussia is lying somewhere hurt or dying!"

"But we won't be able to find him like this," France said, sweeping his arms out to indicate the pale, tired-eyed, and in some cases, shivering people. "We really should sleep and then do intense searching all day tomorrow."

"Hmm, I agree," Russia added.

The thing that was noted by only a few was that Russia was neither standing with the crowd, nor was he up in the line of five at the front. He stood somewhere in the middle, calmly and with his metallic purple scarf falling down his back, between his shoulders and dark wings. He was almost at the front, but a kind of resentment from the others kept him from joining the front and fully voicing his own ideas as suggestions or commands.

Germany did not give a firm agreement, but he did not continue to speak on the subject.

"Here then?" Romania said. "Should we set up sleeping places right here?"

America said, "Sounds good! How about we all gather all blankets and pillows from whatever old bedrooms are in this house and bring them back here?"

" _Go out again?_ " the crowd whispered together.

"Come on dudes, there's nothing going on here!" America called out. "Our only problem is a traitor among us, so we have to stop making a big deal out of everything else! We need to focus on that one fact, and stop letting our fears get the better of us!"

Britain, more to himself out of surprise, muttered, "Wow. America just made a good point."

"Alright," Germany grunted. "Everyone back here in twenty minutes."

The groups reluctantly pulled away and split up, dragging their feet down the halls in exhaustion from the lack of sleep and because of the stress that had been draining their bodies in the last few hours since Prussia's disappearance. Most came back before the end of the time frame they had been given, carrying back with them huge bundles of old blankets, pillows, and some were even pulling mattresses across the place.

Soon the floor was covered in a disorganized mess of sleeping stationary. Without requiring orders however, everyone soon started establishing their own areas. Russia stood by the group he was assigned to that was composed of Germany, Italy, and America, but when Belarus tugged on his tail, he glanced down at her and then followed her to where Ukraine was spreading out blankets on the floor.

Although they had retrieved the items together, groups started to naturally drift apart to be with those closer to them. They stuck with the people they trusted, and even between these new-founded sleeping groups, there were spaces between them that had not been purposefully established for the sake of pathways.

Sweden grabbed two mattresses and dragged them into the center of the room where other groups were surrounding the area. Before Denmark could complain about this development, Sweden already beckoned Sealand and Ladonia over. They had been standing to the side unsurely until this point, but they seemed to brighten and they wandered over to the middle.

Sweden threw a warm blanket over one of the mattresses as he said, "Where are the other little ones?"

"Oh," Sealand replied, realizing he meant the children who had come to the party. "Er, Kugelmugel is…"

He searched around and then pointed out the micronation clad in a raven costume standing by his own and seeming distracted.

"And then there's Moldova, but he's with Romania," Sealand said.

"Okay," Sweden grumbled. "Go and ask 'em if they want to come the the middle where it's safer."

Sweden watched Sealand wander off to do this while Ladonia sat down on the freshly-made bed and hugged his knees. Sweden was taken back by his silence, and he looked over and saw Ladonia staring at nothing in particular. Sweden threw the blanket over the second mattress before he murmured quietly to Ladonia.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

Ladonia only made a strange sound in his throat while shaking his head _no_. Sweden waited until Sealand returned with only Kugelmugel, and once they were gathered in front of him, he started to speak with them. Finland came by out of curiosity, and he stood by and listened to what Sweden was telling the micronations.

When it became apparent that Sweden planned on sleeping on the floor beside them, Finland left and told this news to the other Nordics, who in turn stopped setting up in the corner, and instead dragged over their things to also join Sweden by the children.

Canada saw all this happening, and he turned his head and said to America, "Do you see what they are doing? That was a really good idea of theirs."

America looked up from the ball of blanket in his arms and checked out what was happening many metres away from him.

"Yeah, dude. We got to protect those kids, you know?"

Britain and France were behind them, and they had heard what had been said and they curtly agreed before turning back to the front table. They dropped a stack of blank paper down before they started to take the dishes of food off the table. Germany passed by them on the way out of the kitchen, and then after reevaluating the massive amount of things still left to move, he recruited some of the people who had already set up their sleeping areas, to help him.

China, Italy, and Japan went back and forth between stacking things in the fridge, freezer, cabinets, and on the counter. There was bustle here in which Norway had to squeeze through in order to get in. His presence was immediately noted, and Germany clasped a hand on his shoulder.

"What do you need?"

"Just some things for the children," Norway replied quietly.

"I cannot give you anything," Germany said. "We are going to have to start rationing our food in case we will be stuck here for a while."

Norway said with a light sigh in his voice, "Is water okay then?"

"Of course."

Norway slipped past China and collected three cups before going to the sink. Germany left the room after watching him for a few seconds, and back in the main room he saw that there was nothing else left now on the table but those papers. France and Britain came out and joined him, standing beside each other as they looked down at the papers together with him.

"Alright," Britain said as he took one of the pencils lying on the table from the scavenger hunt into his hand.

He slid one sheet towards him and started by writing down their own names in a vertical stack. He added: _America, Canada, China, Japan_ , and then continued on with the nations at the top of his mind, needing occasionally reminders whenever he hesitated.

He wrote the names down by association. Down the list, groups were massed together, including: the Nordics, the Micronations, the Baltics, the Slavic nations, and others. He needed to use more sheets of paper to write all the names down on the left margins. When finished, he spread the papers that had been written on side-by-side to each other.

"How many is that?" France asked.

Britain went over them then replied, "There are 36 of us."

"Plus…?"

"Yes. 37 with Prussia."

Britain had not bothered to write down that name.

Momentarily afterwards, Germany turned to the people moving around, and he yelled out for their attention.

"Alright." He toned down his voice once all focus was upon him. "It's time that we lay down a few rules for all of us to follow."

"Rules?" Bulgaria inquired.

"For everyone's safety," Germany continued. "Foremost: cellphones."

The note had already been tossed, but the message that had been on it still burned in all of their minds.

Germany raised an open hand forward.

"We are going to have to confiscate everything."

The idea had not been considered before the initial search party, but now as no results showed up and fear was increasing, America had suggested that this be done when he and Germany had been collecting blankets together. As Germany had been reminded, someone here, if not more- could not be trusted. In addition, with all of this talk of "strange happenings", panic could easily lead to somebody forgetting the message and calling for help regardless.

The few people who had taken cellphones to the party slowly came forward and set them on the table.

"Anyone else?" America threw out as they all departed to go back to their places.

Germany hollered, "If you do not come forward now and you are caught later with a communication device of any kind, there will be trouble!"

Denmark whispered, " _Nor_ …"

Norway reached up a hand and removed his hair clip cellphone before heading to the table. He was the last to come forward.

"And your car keys!" Germany called out.

Germany dug out his own from his pocket and dropped them onto the table with a loud clang. All those who had driven others here and had parked their cars on the old and forgotten road went forward as well.

France explained, "We have no choice but to lock all of these things away. We can't have anyone making any mistakes. So, if anyone is also seen trying to get a hold of these things, well…"

Then Britain added, "Everything will be put into one room. If anyone has anything that they would like to discard, we can put those things in there as well."

This was a reference to the masks, gloves, and other pieces of costumes that people had already taken off themselves. Some had already washed off the makeup from their faces in one of the bathrooms they had come across, and this included Britain himself. France tossed his own black and white gloves onto the floor, and in a ripple effect, people began to take the most that they could off themselves to add to the growing pile.

After people settled once more, Germany said, "Now. Another thing about our supplies. There is only a limited amount of all hygiene products. If only necessary, showering is allowed. Go easy on the soap. We have a small amount of toothpaste, floss, and apparently two bottles of mouthwash. Let's make these things last."

"We can at least save the napkins," France added. "For the bathroom."

"Moving on," Britain said. "Everyone, please come up here and take a quick look at this. This is going to be very important."

People walked over, and Britain moved out of the way for them.

"We are going to have a sort of logbook to keep track of everybody," Britain explained as he stood to the side and leaned against the table. "Every time we leave this room, we must look at that clock and write down the time that we left and then returned. Draw a star between the times if you were just part of a search group, and if you left for any other reason, write it down."

"Organization is going to be the most important thing if we are all going to find Prussia as soon as possible," Canada said. "We will all use this for when we go out, and when we do, never go out alone. Have at least one other person with you, although more is better. Try to be quick in the bathrooms, and just avoid doing anything suspicious. Everyone must be ready to answer questions about their locations at any given time, and say the people that you were with."

"And," America said while pointing firmly across the room. "absolutely nobody goes outside without permission!"

Everyone followed his finger to the large, wooden door that still remained unlocked. The eyes locked onto America as he crossed the room and headed toward it. He looked back at them all, his fingers grazing over the lock before purposefully turning it. The effect seemed to be as though the door of a jail cell had just slammed shut in front of their faces. People jumped, startled by the steady and calm action.

Brief silence followed, and in it came an imploring creak on the floor above them. Once again the shivering started, and fearful eyes that almost were pleading, focused onto America.

"That is all for now," America muttered.

"W-Wait," Finland's voice rang out.

"What is it?"

"I know we can't call for help, but can we make other calls? Some of us have pets and… maybe we could just contact someone to take care of them while we're here."

This understanding clicked into many people's minds and they called out their agreement.

"Can we take the risk?" America asked.

"Yes, we can, right?" Canada said, his polar bear on his mind while he whipped his head side-to-side to look at the other four.

Germany nodded, his blue eyes shining with worry as he thought about his own dogs.

France said, "We should also consider how suspicious it would be to our bosses if they did not know about our whereabouts. We wouldn't want them coming here all concerned, now would we?"

"You're right," Britain said. "If they start looking for us, one of them is bound to have the address and they'll come here. And not only that, but if they think something is wrong, they could get the police involved without us wanting to."

"Which would result in…" Germany trailed off and clenched his hands into fists.

America called out, "Alright, everybody, we all get to have a turn on the phone! Get someone to feed your pets, and lie like crazy to your bosses! No one says anything about this place and what is going on here. We will all go one at a time, and we will all be listening carefully to make sure nothing bad slips out."

Finland was the first to go up. The five ringed around him in a semicircle and listened to him talk, and the same process was repeated for whoever else came up after him. It took a long time to get through them all, and the grandfather clock reminded them loudly that the time had reached two o'clock.

During the long waiting period, people had gone off together to the bathroom. The last of the makeup had also been washed off all faces by the time everyone had started settling down. They then crawled in under the blankets that were cold from lack of usage, but fortunately they were thick and soon absorbed their body heat.

People pressed in close to each other and practically hid themselves under the blankets in the pockets of warmth. The fear could not leave them, even though the lights had been left on. Thus they quivered and lay close to others as though they could take reassurance from their mere presences, despite how they were all equally terrified and had no bravery to offer to each other.

Everyone lay down and closed their eyes. They listened to the ticking of the clock, all so thankful that it partially covered up the more stressing sounds that could be heard: the groans of the house, the wind whistling, and the trees shaking and moaning. The minutes went by, and all anybody could do was lay there with their eyes closed, desperately hoping that sleep could overcome them and at least for a little while, take them away from this nightmare.

The clock chimed at the quarter hours, raising their heart rates for just a few seconds until they recognized this sudden sound. This pattern continued for most until after four o'clock, when a few were fortunate enough to drift away into a troubled sleep in which they would awaken every fifteen minutes when they had suddenly remembered where they were.

A small murmuring was heard, and when people started to hear it, they lifted their heads up. Two were sitting up and whispering quietly, trying their best not to disturb others although it could not be helped when most were still awake. Austria sat up with part of the blanket still wrapped around his shoulders and balled up in his hands. After a few seconds of talking, he stood up with Hungary and they headed over to the table. Austria picked up the pen first, scratched at the paper, and then passed the pen over to Hungary. Eyes peeked up from under blankets as these two then padded side-by-side up the stairs, feet making the old stairs creak underfoot.

Germany dragged himself out of bed and headed to the table. He checked what had just been written into the logbook beside Austria's name.

 _4:12 am, bathroom_.

Germany slid back under the blankets beside the dozing Italy and closed his eyes.

The clock ticked, and he listened to how it went in harmony with the creaks of the house and the wind, as though these sounds were trying to conduct a melody. The clock however, had the loudest voice.

 _Tick… tick… tick…_

From where Germany lay, he could see the face of that clock if he poked his head out from under the covers. This he did, and he saw how the clock now displayed with elegant, black hands _4:20_.

 _It can't take them that long_ , Germany thought as dread trickled from his heart and into his blood.

 _Tick… tick… tick…_

The makeshift peace exploded when an enormous bang echoed throughout the house. People burst from their beds with yells and stumbled to their blanket-entangled feet. Every one of them was now fully awake and panicking; whimpering, shifting, and emitting fear-stricken words.

" _What was that?_ "

" _Oh god, oh god…_ "

" _Where did that come from?_ "

" _What do we do? What the hell do we do?_ "

Japan said, "That sounded like it came from right above us."

After the words had left him, jaws dropped as directly above them came forth long, drawn-out sliding noises. Screeches across the floor as though furniture was forcibly being dragged across hardwood.

Germany called out, "I'm taking a group up there! Who is with me?"

Four people were immediately up to their feet and heading towards Germany: Spain, Japan, America, and Russia. Many others had seemed ready to join, but then when so many had already assembled together, they settled back down.

The group went around the table and raced up the stairs. Germany took the lead with America and they sprinted around the corner, immediately smashing into walls that shrieked. Austria and Hungary crashed to the ground and stared up at the group with round eyes.

"What happened?" Germany demanded.

Austria stumbled over his words, and for a quick moment the urge to grab him by the shoulders and shake the answer out of him had been there. However, Hungary quickly shot to her feet and answered, "We don't know! We just ran when we heard the sound!"

She raised a hand and pointed down the opposite hall from the bathroom.

"It came from one of those rooms," she said.

Hungary and Austria scrambled down the stairs past them as the group of five tore off in that direction.

"Search every room in this hall!" America called out.

"Wait!" Japan cried just as everyone was about to split up. "Maybe we should stick together, just in case."

As they barged into the first room together, Germany said, "Everyone is downstairs. The only person who could have made that sound is Prussia. He might be in one of these rooms!"

The light had been flicked on before curtains were pulled apart, the closet thrown open, and Spain bent down and scanned under the bed.

"Nothing here," Spain called out.

The room across the hall to this one was investigated, and still nothing was found. In under a minute, the third had been checked.

When the door was pulled in as they went to go back out into the hall, a gust of chilling air met them. They paused in surprise, and then gathered in the dark hall.

"Hey, you guys feel it now, right?" Spain asked. "Don't you feel how cold it is now?"

America furrowed his brows and said, "Yeah… I do, actually."

Germany shook his head and glared at the two.

"Now is not the time to succumb to everyone else's fears!" he growled. "Prussia might be trapped in one of these rooms-"

"Germany," Russia murmured.

Germany paused, slightly taken back by the interruption from Russia.

"What?" he grunted, as he and the others focused their attention upon Russia.

"Do you think that Prussia really is tied up somewhere?"

Germany growled, "If my brother wasn't imprisoned somewhere, then he would have returned by now. He would never play a game this sick with us!"

"But," Russia uttered, "I just saw someone down the hall."

"What?" Germany whispered now.

Russia nodded slightly once and said, "They just dashed between two rooms. Really fast, but I saw them."

"Are you sure?" Japan said.

Russia replied, "It was hard to be making out, but it had a person shape."

Russia started to advance down the hall. He stopped when he felt a hand grasp his scarf and tug.

"Hey, dude," America said. "Don't be making this shit up."

Russia turned slightly and looked into America's eyes. In the dim light, he saw a shimmer of repressed fear within him.

Russia wondered with surprise, _Is America really afraid?_

He cast his eyes back to the hall where America was now staring down with his shaking eyes.

"It went into that room," Russia pointed before breaking away from America to begin to walk down the hall again.

"Hold on," Germany muttered.

Germany stepped after Russia, but then he stopped and stood unsurely with his mouth partially open.

America filled in the silence after Germany's hesitation.

"You know…" he whispered. "Maybe… maybe we _should_ go back downstairs."

"I agree," Japan swiftly added.

"That might be a good idea," Spain said. "I mean, we all are tired and well, perhaps we should just come back here tomorrow."

Russia said, "You think so?"

Germany said slowly, "But what about the sound?"

America whispered, "Dude, Germany… I'm starting to think that wasn't Prussia."

They all shivered in the relentless chill, and Spain hid his hands in his pockets while Russia buried part of his face behind his scarf.

Without saying another word, they all slunk away and returned down the stairs. Everyone was awake and anxiously awaiting the return of the group, and some spoke with Austria and Hungary while they did this. A collective sigh of relief arose when everybody returned, and they expectantly listened for news.

"Nothing to worry about," Germany said as they all made it to the bottom of the stairs.

"You found nothing?" China asked.

"No."

Russia stared at Germany, but he said nothing. The rest of them as well kept neutral expressions as to not look suspicious.

Before anymore questions could be posed, Germany asked Austria and Hungary, "Did you sign back in?"

Hungary murmured, "Yes, we did."

America burst out, "Alright everybody, everything's settled! You can all go back to sleep now."

Canada peeked up and gave America an inquisitive glance, but he assumed that later he would be let in on what had really happened upstairs. He settled down like everyone else in the room who had obediently listened to the command.

However, the talking could not be so easily stopped, and a few people continued to whisper to each other. Germany contemplated on whether to shush them, in order for everyone to get as much rest as possible before they spend the entirety of tomorrow searching. Then however, like fire on a field of dry grass, a general topic spread across the room. He did not know who had started it, but suddenly others were excitedly joining in.

" _I heard that too!_ "

" _I thought I just imagined it before…_ "

Britain sat up and said, "What now?"

"Do you remember..." Seychelles asked, "That really low sound around 10 o'clock?"

Liechtenstein added, "It was ten minutes before we started to figure out who won the scavenger hunt."

"Low sound…" Britain murmured while pondering it.

"You know, now that you mention it," France said. "I remember it now."

"Yeah." Canada was up now too. "But at the time, I didn't think much of it."

Bulgaria asked, "So we all heard it then?"

A chorus of agreements arose.

"But I had almost completely forgotten about it," China said.

"I also didn't really think about it when I first heard it," Portugal admitted.

America said, "But does anyone even know what that was?"

"No idea," Denmark replied. "But it was a kind of _boooooong_ …"

"But it couldn't have been a clock," Norway said. "It was too loud."

Ladonia piped up, "A voice then?"

Others immediately jumped upon him with their words of protest and horror.

"A voice?" Germany protested. "Don't be ridiculous!"

"Come on," Romano huffed. "Let's not start this crap."

"But that's what it sounded like to me," Ladonia said. "More like a moan."

The room went silent. Wide eyes stared at the boy, and then around the room in every direction. Down the halls, up the stairs, at the ceiling above, those shining and quivering eyes scanned.

" _Can_ -"

Romania cut Moldova's whisper off. He breathed his words into his ear so that only he could possibly hear him.

" _No, I told you already. Don't make people more scared than they already are. They won't understand_."

Britain shook his head and said to everyone, "There is no point in continuing to get worked up over every sound we hear. We need to rest now, and tomorrow we will do a more thorough search of this place."

"Right," Canada said. "Everyone just needs to calm down and keep their fears to themselves. I know we are all scared, but let's try to keep our heads straight."

The straightforward argument was easy enough to follow, so without any more protest, people lay back down one-by-one, resting their heads on pillows and nestling under the covers and sharing each other's warmth. They trapped themselves in their minds and considered everything that had passed in the last few hours. They anguished over their situation, tried to find a reason for every turn of events, and all the while they were merely creating their own solid perceptions.


	3. A Sliver of Suspicion

_Ralph was annoyed and, for the moment, defeated. He felt himself facing something ungraspable. The eyes that looked so intently at him were without humor._

 _"But there isn't a beast!"_

 _Something he had not known was there rose in him and compelled him to make the point, loudly and again._

 _"But I tell you there isn't a beast!"_

 _The assembly was silent._

* * *

Light trickled in through the pale glass of the front door and windows to softly touch upon exposed, resting faces. The uproarious and deep-throated caws of a murder of crows among the pines just outside the mansion rang out, contrasting the calm beat of the clock's ticking. Reluctantly people creaked open their eyes, stretched, and groaned as joints cracked in protest.

Blankets shifted as people crawled from their warm cocoons and met the fresh and chilling morning air. Some sat down and stared up the mahogany carpet of the stairs, groggy eyes dazedly glaring at the colour and growing unsatisfied and nervous once more when they realized that the sight before them would not disappear no matter how many times they blinked. Heads turned and looked over the rising shapes around them, at the assortment of beds, blankets, and pillows, and a chilled knife penetrated their hearts as they realized that the nightmare was undoubtedly real.

No wake-up call was required as everyone awoke at the movements of each other. Most got up and stretched, wincing at the throbbing tightness in their muscles from the previous night's excursions throughout the mansion. Canada was the first to the logbook along with America, France, and Britain, who all in turn signed out before they headed upstairs to the bathroom. This pattern was taken up by others after they had stretched out the pain in their legs and backs, and many were quick to ask the already stationed guard at the kitchen entrance, Germany, for permission to have water.

Some were pushier and did not appreciate this chain of command, even if they understood the logic. However, Germany's tensed muscles and forceful barks reduced most to just whining out their complaints to him.

One instance was Romano, uttering, "I get that you are in charge, but no need to get up in everybody's faces. It's not like we _want_ to take all the food and starve."

A suspicious glare from Germany followed, which in truth, surprised Romano and his listeners.

As a final comment before they quickly went in and came out with glasses of water, Romano said, "Tell us we're going to at least get breakfast, you bastard."

"You will," Germany replied, "and shortly."

When the other four arrived, Canada and America headed over to Germany. He was quick to explain to them that he had calculated approximate serving sizes to give out to everybody from their limited stocks.

"A week?" America echoed, a little too loudly for Germany's liking.

"Enough for three meals for everybody. It won't be much, but it is enough."

"Hopefully this will be over long before then," Canada said. "Maybe even today."

"I hope so," Germany muttered.

Germany led the two into the kitchen and indicated what could be served out for this morning. Canada and America began pulling out plates and helping him prepare everything, giving every plate a single slice of bread, a dipped strawberry, and a cookie. Once a few plates were ready, Germany took on the job of taking them out and handing them to each person.

Canada sawed the knife down, focusing on making the widths of the bread slices as equal as he could manage. As he glared down, he asked America, "So, what did you guys find when you went upstairs this morning?"

"Ah…" he replied. "I don't even know. Nothing really, but…"

"But?"

"We searched three of the rooms, but then I remember that it got really cold when we came back into the hall. Like dude, movie theater ice cold. We were talking about, um, well _something_ , but then Russia said this really weird thing. Said he saw someone run between two rooms. Creepy shit, dog."

"You really think that he saw something?" Canada asked.

"Hmm, I don't know. I mean we were all tired, so he might have just imagined it."

"Yeah," Canada said. "I really think this is why everyone was so freaked out last night. I mean right now, doesn't everything seem nowhere near as scary now that it's light out?"

"Ha, yeah," America quickly agreed. "I guess we were just being scared of the dark or something, right?"

"Definately," Canada nodded. "If all of this goes on for another day, I really think that we should try going to bed earlier. We really have to keep it together so that all of this is over as soon as possible."

"And the culprit is caught red-handed!" America exclaimed enthusiastically as he slid another round of plates to Germany.

"That's why I really like France and Britain's logbook idea," Canada said. "Very organized. We can continue on with our searches, and then check over the papers for suspicious activities. Then it will be easy figuring out who is doing all this."

Once Germany confirmed that everyone had received one plate or bowl each, he, America, and Canada took their own food-filled dishes before they exited the kitchen. The others were already done, and they held onto their empty plates uncertainly, waiting for orders as to what they were to do with them. France mentioned that because there was not enough dish soap, that they would not be able to wash the dishes after every meal. In a case such as now, the plates held only a few crumbs upon them, so they could survive one meal without being washed.

Everyone ended up putting their empty cups down on their plates, leaving their things on the floor by their beds. They stood and waited around, expecting before it happened that the five self-proclaimed leaders would walk up to the front and give them the orders for the day.

"Alright everybody, listen up," Britain said. "Today we are going to do a much more thorough job of searching than that poor and quick excuse of one from last night. We are all going to go in our same groups and continue on where we all left off. This time however, every single room in the hall must be investigated. Take your time checking each room, and don't miss anything. This place is too big for anyone of us to miss something."

Canada added softly, "Okay, everyone, sign out with a star and don't forget to sign back in when you return for lunch."

"Which will be at one o'clock," Germany stated. "So everyone must be here by then."

The groups looked around the room and walked over to gather together. A long line amassed by the table, as every person checked the clock and wrote their time of departure down. Once an entire group was signed out, they departed the room with a hint of caution in their step despite the reassuring thoughts they were attempting to give themselves.

Germany turned to his group, which included Italy, America, and Russia, and said, "Alright. Now let's check out that area again and see if we can find out what that noise was from last night."

They were the last to leave the main hall and wander up the stairs. On the second floor, they took the right, whereas on the left they could hear the Baltics and Poland bumping around in a room. Last night, no one had been assigned to this area of the house where Germany's group was heading now, merely because of the lack of groups to search every hallway.

Germany insisted that every room they had checked from before be reexamined. He took the lead and flicked on the light upon entering, but then he marched over to the curtains, grabbed them, and yanked them forcefully apart. A cloud of dust exploded outwards and glided away, flakes slowly falling and collecting on the floor. A powerful ray of sunlight entered the room, and with the door open, a lot of its strength beamed into the hall.

The entire building was tall and wide, yet shaped like a sharpened U. Each side of the hall held rooms with windows, and so every room they entered, the curtains were opened and bright light from the crisp November day was encouraged to flood into the house, to drown out the shadows, and extinguish them into pitiful withers hiding in the corners.

It was because they left every door open to the rooms they checked, that their planned fight for light in this house of shadows was a successful one. A somber hallway was very nearly magically converted, and the dim lighting was no longer a worry for the entire hall, which was now fully bright and welcoming. The memory of the chilling blackness at the end of this hall, where none ventured down before last night, could fade away into an ungraspable haze now that everything was clear and calm.

In fact, now the majesty of this old place could be properly appreciated. Never before with the fear and darkness of the previous night did anyone notice the intricate woodwork on all of the doorframes. In the smooth and polished wood, unique spiral designs had been carved, and in the top two corners of every door, were artistic squares with images carved in. Fine carvings of leaves such as noble fig leaves and olive, flowers magnificently in bloom, as well as single animals standing bold: rabbits, birds, lions and stags.

The edges of the carpets could now be seen as well, with interesting gold threads and more artistic designs made of up weaves and spirals. It was realized collectively that this place had a beauty to it that would never have been considered by them if it had not been for the light they had cast into it. As of now, the air was also warm and calm, silent and as undisturbed as they had remembered it to be only a short a while ago.

They then, however, came up to the room Russia had indicated last night. America hesitated as he stared at the shut wooden door in his face. Only one thought could run through his mind as he took the handle into his hand: _He said he saw someone run into this room, but the door isn't even open._

He twisted the handle, and when it creaked open a crack, he tapped it with his fingers until it swung open slowly. So far the room remained silent, and he padded inwards with the others. They spread out and checked out the corners of the room, but absolutely nothing seemed out of place. Italy walked over to the curtain, and he drew them open and brightened up the room. Yet, even with the light shining golden on his face, his hands tightened on the curtains and his lips parted. All the others froze and turned their gazes at Italy's back as a whimper escaped from him.

He choked out, "U-Uh… Germany…"

Everyone tread closer as Italy backed away from the window. All the others stiffened as their eyes rounded and narrowed, zooming in on what lay before him. Italy continued retreating until he bumped into Germany, and before Italy moved around to his side, Germany had felt the slight tremor the other had had although it was difficult to notice with just gazing over him.

The pseudo-peace they had had before had been tragically so transient. The light they had tried to bring into this house could not drown away that darkness that was demonstrated in front of them as black handprints printed haphazardly onto the glass. Small; pressed there as though done by the dirty hands of a child.

"Dude…" America whispered.

None of them were tempted to approach the window with the intention to cover up these marks with the curtains. Instead, they only mutually understood that this room and been checked enough, and so they backed out into the hall and closed this door behind them. Then, they could only look over at the closed door to the next room that was directly across the hall.

 _The one Russia said he saw someone run from_ , America thought. He shook his head slightly, which came out as a fast twitch. He wanted to clear away this thought and to erase his growing fear. It had been so easy just a few minutes ago, but now, after the chilling sight they had all just beheld, the calm confidence he had had while speaking with Canada in the kitchen faded away and could not be reattained.

Russia reached out and took the handle, and this door as well protested with a drawn-out creak as it was opened. So very slowly, the room came into sight piece-by-piece and the group focused in on something long and black that lay on the floor. They approached it, and Russia bent over, seized it, then lifted it upright. He felt the stand-up lamp's weight and its heaviness from its dense materials, and then he looked it up as it now stood beside him with a height greater than his.

"The sound of last night," Russia commented.

"But how?" Germany uttered.

He came over beside Russia and grasped the middle as well. He felt its heaviness, and he drew away his hand with wariness.

"How could it have fallen?" Germany whispered.

"Germany," America said. "I'm seriously thinking that we have to accept that something is really messed up about this place."

Germany only replied, "We also heard sliding sounds last night. What could they have been?"

"Over here!" Italy exclaimed.

A thick wooden work desk stood crookedly and a metre from the wall it presumably should have been resting against. Germany came up behind it, knelt, and ghosted his fingers over the drag marks that scraped the smooth wood of this room's hardwood planks.

Italy asked with a voice low with worry, "Who could have pushed it, Germany?"

Every ounce of him wanted to deny it. Germany desperately did not want to believe everything they were finding; all the evidence to confirm the fears Germany had considered irrational the day before. He bit his lip, and his eyes sharpened as he pondered, trying to find some logic in all of this.

 _It cannot be Prussia_ , Germany thought. _But then, who could it be? The lamp and desk might have been Austria and Hungary but then, why would they go in here if not to do extra searching? And then… I suppose those handprints could have been stains from long ago. We are not certain if they are fresh or not._

"Germany?" Italy repeated.

He only continued to think, _Unless there is another reason Austria and Hungary came in here. But… could they be hiding something? I know they had feuds with Prussia occasionally, but I am certain that those were nothing but harmless teasing. And I have known Austria at least for a long time. I trust him… don't I?_

"We cannot be certain," Germany said, "but I am going to have a talk with Austria and Hungary about this. Perhaps they know something."

* * *

The time for lunch came upon them, and when they heard the clocks proclaiming that it was now one o'clock, all the groups hurried back with stomachs complaining about the meager breakfast they had received from earlier. Germany's group was the first to arrive, and the next group to show up was the one composed of Canada, Britain, France, and Kugelmugel. They heard clanging in the kitchen while the others were busy working, however, Russia sat alone in his sleeping area while Germany hung in the doorway and kept an eye on him.

People flooded into the room, not saying anything, which was taken as both good and bad news. No one else had gone missing, but then no one had found any sign of Prussia either. They all just signed in, gathered their plates and cups from before, and started a line at the kitchen. America served them sliced fruit that they had found in the fridge, along with either strawberry custard or orange cream cake, and a bite-sized piece of bagel each. Their water glasses were filled up by Italy, and once each person had everything, they sat back down in their areas. It took a while until everyone had been served, but once everyone was gathered on the floor, Germany made a beeline to where Austria and Hungary were eating together. Russia looked up and glanced over, but he was too far away to hear the low interrogation that was going on.

Germany opened with, "We need to have a talk about what happened last night."

They both looked up at him worriedly.

"What do you mean?" Austria swiftly asked.

"Keep your voice down," Germany said. "Just tell me what you two were doing."

"But we said in the logbook-" Austria protested. "Why don't you take a look yourself?"

"Those are just words written on paper. Tell me where you really were."

"Hold on," Hungary breathed. "You think that we lied?"

"You two were the only two unaccounted for when the sounds were heard upstairs. And then we _did_ find you two on that floor."

"We went to the bathroom!" Austria exclaimed, and was immediately snapped at by Germany to once again be quieter.

"I was waiting just outside the door in the hall for him," Hungary said. "He was inside. Then we heard the bang, and he dove out and we just ran. As we came to the stairs, we could hear the sliding noises far down the hall in front of us. It was horrifying, because in order to flee we had to run _towards_ the noises."

Austria added, "We were just about to go downstairs as well. I was drying my hands at the time we heard the noise. I dropped the towel on the floor. So well, if you really don't believe us, ask around. Surely, someone must have seen it there this morning?"

Hungary's shoulders sank in relief to hear Austria mention a piece of physical evidence to support them. However, Germany's face remained stone-still and blatantly unconvinced.

"But that could have been planted before," he muttered.

"What?" Austria gasped.

Blue eyes narrowed as Germany became aware of the other eyes that were now looking over at them. He uttered lowly,"What were you doing in that room?"

"What room?" Hungary whispered.

"You guys knocked over something by accident, didn't you? Why were you in there?"

"We don't know what you're talking about!" Austria hissed.

Austria lowered his head and challenged Germany with a gaze he was completely unused to be receiving from him. Austria's lips pulled back and a line of white teeth was revealed to him, and he noticed how rigid his muscles were, especially in his face. Hungary as well glared at Germany with heat burning in her eyes, before she bit the air as she snapped at him.

"How dare you believe he is lying?" she snarled. "How can you not trust him when you both have always been so close? You know him better than that!"

Germany reconsidered the furious look printed on Austria's face, and he noticed his dipped eyebrows and wide pupils that seemed to display hurt. Germany's mind launched him back to the scene from the night before, where Austria was on the floor by his feet, a trembling mess, incapable of speech. He wondered as he looked over Austria in his memory, _Is that true fear, or just an act?_

Yet the other explanation he contemplated he wanted so hard to refuse. So even as he stared into the eyes of someone who had been by his side throughout the wars, the nation that he had much in common with and could relate to so surprisingly well, he could still not bring himself to fully believe what he was being told. However, he did not want to strengthen this conflict between them, so he feigned regret, and he just murmured his amends before he left them.

"Very well, then please take my apologies. Forget I said anything."

He sat down with Britain, France, Canada, and America to eat. Once with them, Germany leaned forward and murmured to them his suspicions. America had already informed them of what had been found in those two rooms, but now that suspects were mentioned, they seemed to hook onto his words and want to be pulled by them.

"I don't know if they took Prussia," France murmured, "but they must have been up to something in that room."

"The only question is, what?" Britain said.

America jumped in, "I knew someone was responsible for all this. Come on, no matter what everyone else says, a person wrote that note. That can't be denied!"

"I agree," Canada whispered. "But it doesn't make sense that anyone of us would want to hurt Prussia. None of us are evil and cruel enough to find humor in this dark game."

America exhaled through his nose with a mocking snort.

"Oh, you might be surprised how twisted some of us are inside," he said with eyes lazily drifting over to the side. The others followed his gaze, and they saw Russia sitting with his sisters. His empty plate rested on his lap as he propped his chin on a hand and stared off at nothing in particular.

They could not be certain, but they became convinced that he must have been deep in thought.

* * *

After lunch, the groups were sent to investigate new areas of the house. The Nordic-led group took their leave first, signing out before ascending the staircase. Every floor they passed, they saw halls now flooded with light. They passed the second floor, turned, and then continued up to the third floor. Despite the placid sunlight chasing away most of the darkness, there was still a mood that could not be so easily erased, and they felt it grow in strength along with the silence the higher up they went.

There was a tangible feeling in the air as they walked up these stairs. Warmth and coldness was lost as a concern, for there was a mere feeling of difference that was unsettling. Every step the group took upwards shook their hearts, made their eyes shake, and their hands cold and shivery. A weird haze began to drift into their minds, like a heavy cloud that made reality hard to grasp. Their eyes widened and their hearing sharpened. They heard their own heartbeat loud in their chests, and they felt their spines stiffen and straighten.

They set foot on the fifth floor. One-by-one, each gathered at the top of the stairs: Sweden, Finland, Ladonia, Sealand, and then Denmark. Each had a tremor; a fear spasming within and trying to escape, to explode outwards and consume them in a panic to force them to flee down the stairs and leave this high level. Finland checked the two children who were violently shaking side-by-side behind him, and he questioned his own quivering body. They had neither seen nor heard anything, and yet, a fear had sparked to life inside them like a flame touching upon dry paper and immediately growing strong and devouring everything.

Perhaps, it did not have to be an unexplained sound that could frighten them. Now, it was the absolute lack of it. Every floor had been silent, and Finland could not help but wonder about why this floor seemed to be even more so. The quality of the air should not have felt so different, he knew, but there was something about the atmosphere that seemed more mysterious up here. As though being quiet could not be enough, and that the air had to swallow up any noise and have it disappear from this world with a dying sigh.

They started off by progressing down the left wing, checking out each of the murky rooms. Their feet disturbed the fragile peace in the air, sending clouds of dust breezing across the floor. Sweden yanked the curtains open, throwing a storm of dust upon himself, and he took a moment to stroke his nobly-dressed vampire costume while he peered out at the front yard of the building. From their high point, he could see under a high afternoon sun the expansive mixed-wood forest that stretched out far until it was broken by a brown dip, where the road lay and their cars could be seen all lined up. He purposefully lowered his eyes from it, and he stared down at the large drop from here to the patchy lawn below where fat gray stones popped out from the ground, smooth and textured with dark moss.

"Nothing in here," Denmark said. Sweden shook his head to wake himself, and when exploring the next room across the hall, he made sure to do his own share of the searching.

One-by-one, each of the rooms were cleared: musty bedrooms, studies, display rooms, and the rooms that were eerily empty and contained nothing at all. They made it soon to the end of this hallway before it twisted around the corner and continued onwards. Some of the hallways contained nothing but a decoration at the end: a mirror, shelves holding little wood carvings or stone statues, or peeling paintings of smiling, unfamiliar people. The end of this hall however, was unique. A single door was at the end, and it was larger and more exquisite than most. It had a broad door frame where much time had been taken to carve creative patterns all around the door, creating the appearance of a majestic entrance that strongly tempted all passersby to enter.

Yet the charm had been lost upon this group, and if granted the choice, they would have easy denied going inside this all too inviting room because of the heavy air near it that induced sinking feelings within them all. Nevertheless, they came up to it and Denmark exhaled as he grabbed the door handle.

He inhaled sharply as he threw open the door. Air whooshed from their sudden intrusion, and papers fluttered before settling back down into their previous peace. They all blinked in surprise and were promptly drawn to the center of the room, where they turned and looked around at all the things amassed there before they locked onto the huge object that took up most of the wall.

"Whoa," Denmark breathed.

The massive pipe organ piano almost reached the ceiling with its dull silver pipes supported by smooth wood. Stacks of piano keys were uncovered and looking at them, invitingly, the black and white like rectangular eyes that did not blink. Denmark reached out a single finger, and placed it over a key. He felt its smoothness underneath his fingertip, before he pressed down.

It gave a high _blink_ sound that came out with more power than they had expected. The loud noise startled all of them slightly, causing their shoulders to twitch and press forward. Denmark removed his finger but still did not turn away from the piano. The others meanwhile, remembered the rest of the room, and they drifted apart from each other to explore.

The wall had shelves full of instruments enclosed in cases. Sealand slid a rectangular box off the shelf and lifted the lid to peek inside. A rather clean clarinet was there, gleaming as though it was well-cared for. He pressed the lid back on before he slid the box back into its spot on the shelf. He then wandered closer to Finland, who was at a table and staring at another rectangular box that lay on the table. The only box not resting in its place on the shelf.

He acknowledged his observation by saying, "I wonder how long this has been here?"

Sweden came over and stared at it with him. He took it into his hands and removed the lid, and nestled in the foam was a wonderful, coal-black flute with gleaming silver buttons. Sweden _hmm_ ed, before he closed the box and held it in his hand as he walked over to the shelves. His eyes scanned over them until he found the empty space between the row of boxes; a place on the shelf where a rectangle was stamped in the dust.

"Not long," he mumbled back.

Finland came and checked with him, and he lifted his hand and pointed at the shelf above.

"Look," he said, and he drifted his finger to the side to indicate more than more instance. "The instruments must have been moved, and recently. It looks like the boxes were shifted, because there are surfaces with hardly any dust at all."

Sweden nodded firmly and Ladonia piped up nervously, "B-But what does that mean?"

"Some"-Finland caught himself, wondering why he had nearly let the word _something_ slip out from his throat- "Some _one_ has been up here."

Denmark's hoarse voice came out from across the room.

" _Prussia_."

"What?" Sweden said.

Denmark uttered, "He was in here. Look."

The other four quickly hurried to his side at the piano. He was now at the lower keys, and he reached out a hand and spread his fingers over the crack between two white keys. All of them knew right away what he was indicating. Hidden between not only these keys, but between nearly all of the keys in the left end of the piano, where chalky, brown stains.

Denmark whispered now, " _This is dried blood_."

Yet the surface of the keys were clean and white.

He added after a second of silence, "Someone tried to clean it up."

Finland gasped, "Then- that sound!"

"Yeah," Denmark muttered. "At ten o'clock last night, the sound that everyone all heard- it was when someone threw Prussia against this piano. He must have been attacked in this room."

"But if this happened at ten o'clock," Sweden said, "That means ten minutes later, someone replaced the cupcakes with that note."

"But then who could have done it?" Finland said. "Most of us were back by then. Some groups were late, but how could someone have gone off and done this without being noticed?"

"I think," Denmark said, "that's because it wasn't just one person."

Sealand whimpered, "So you think that more than one person is involved in this?"

He received solemn nods in return.

They then lowered their eyes to the floor and searched it. Soon, they could now see the slightly darker patches all over the inconveniently mahogany-coloured carpet that covered most of the floor in the entire mansion. However, it was not just the colour that made these stains hard to notice. It was in fact, the incredible amount of it that washed everything under their feet. It had nearly recoloured the entire carpet, and the only way they could notice this was when they looked at the more lightly-coloured carpet nearer to the walls and shelves.

Their stomachs twisted in repulsion as they realized the floor of blood they were now all standing upon.

"We have to find the others now," Finland said. "Gather everybody together and tell them what we found!"

"But this doesn't really help us, does it?" Ladonia asked. "I mean, Prussia could still be anywhere and this doesn't help us know where he is."

The others blinked at Ladonia before the Nordics looked back at each other and debated this.

"We can wait until dinner then," Sweden stated.

They nodded in agreement.

"But this is big," Denmark said. "Even if this doesn't help us find him, we know some things for sure now."

Sweden agreed and said, "A person attacked him, but most likely a group. One of the late ones."

"But no one went into the kitchen!" Finland exclaimed. "There is only one entrance in. We would have seen who placed the note!"

"The only people who might have gone in there," Denmark said, "were our hosts: Romania, Moldova, and Bulgaria."

"But they weren't late," Sealand added. "They were all by the stairs at ten o'clock."

"Then…" Sweden said. "Even more people are involved."

Sealand whined, "But I don't understand! Why would they do this?"

"Why would anyone of us do this?" Finland sighed. "I really have no idea. I mean, what kind of reason could there be to explain why they attacked Prussia, and are now playing this awful hide-and-seek game with us?"

"How about we ask them about it," Denmark growled. "I think based off of their strange behavior last night, that they have a lot to tell."

* * *

"I don't like this," Switzerland said.

His group had successfully finished searching a hall, and they ran into the group with Canada, Britain, France, and Kugelmugel when they had returned back to the main room. Their group as well was finished, and so all of them were left with the task of undertaking new areas.

Canada said, "I believe that there was a door in the kitchen, so perhaps there is a cellar down there."

Both groups crowded into the kitchen and found the door he had referenced. Canada pushed it open inwards, and a complete wall of blackness met them. Within, they heard the humming of a heating system somewhere deep within.

"There's got to be a light switch somewhere," Canada murmured as he reached his hand into the blackness and felt along the wall.

The hairs on his arm raised as a coldness chilled his skin. His hand swept around in circles, and then he felt something solid sticking out from the wall. He went under it and pushed his fingers upwards, and then with a click, there was a flicker of a light bulb deep in the cellar.

Light, darkness. Light- Canada peered down and he blinked. The darkness returned so swiftly that he was unsure of the black form he was certain he had seen in the center of the room in the curt second of light that had lasted. However, then the light flickered back on, stayed this time, and Canada saw nothing there.

Switzerland peered past him at the barely lighted cellar below. Only the center of the room was lighted, and two rows of blackness remained thick on either side of the room; a lighted gauntlet with possible offenders hiding concealed on either side. It was here, next to Canada, that Switzerland had given his honest opinion upon the scene before them

"We have to check every part of the house," Canada replied.

"It's too dark down there to do any searching," Switzerland muttered. "It's not that I'm scared."

"There are flashlights."

Switzerland exclaimed, "What? Why didn't anybody else know about this?"

"Frankly," Britain said, "because everyone would have wanted to have one no matter where they went. We want to save the batteries of our limited resources."

Switzerland growled sourly, "And just how many other things are you guys hiding from the rest of us?"

"It's nothing to worry about," he replied. "Don't take it so personally. Here, we can go and get some for you now."

They left the kitchen to head to the room on the first floor where all of the confiscated items had been stashed. Britain drew out a key ring from deep in his pocket, sorted through the assortment of silver, black, and bronze, until he found one dull gold one to put into the lock.

"Hold on," Austria said as the door was swung open. "Why is it that you have the key and not Romania?"

"We asked him to give up all his keys to us because with all of these happenings in this house, well, we are uncertain."

Hungary clenched her teeth, "Of what?"

Canada tried to cool her anger.

"We're not accusing anyone," he said. "We're just being careful."

"Not that I particularly like the guy," she huffed. "But why is it that you lot keep thinking that you are any more trustworthy than the rest of us?"

The resentment built up in the hearts of Austria, Hungary, and Switzerland as they listened to the silence from the hesitation in Britain's group's response. When France gave them a reassuring smile and spoke to them, their blood felt scorched with black flames.

"Well of course you can trust us, when have we not been reliable? We help out the poorer nations and provide everyone with support. We are the ones the world looks to when it needs help!"

He spread his hands out in a grandiose manner, still smiling at them politely and calmly, yet only irritating them further. They despised the look in his eyes that was so clean and honest and showed how truly he believed in his own words.

"So you five really do think you are better than the rest of us?" Switzerland challenged, and Liechtenstein shrunk at the aggression in his tone.

"That's not it at all," Britain sighed, pushing past France with an armful of stacked flashlights. "We want nothing more than to solve this conflict."

He shoved his arms towards him, and Switzerland begrudgingly took one of the flashlights. As there were only three, Austria and Hungary took their own, for it was already known that Switzerland would keep Liechtenstein glued to his side regardless.

The moment the cool metal flashlights were in their hands, they forgot their anger as fear crept back into their chests at the thought of the cold cellar their group was about to enter. Liechtenstein was already shivering as they approached the cellar door once again in the kitchen, and she gladly clung to her adopted brother's hand for comfort.

Switzerland was at the front, and he stopped at at the entrance. Below him was a set of wooden stairs with gaps between each one. He threw a glance back at the people behind him who were waiting for him to make the first move. He inhaled, then carefully stepped down on the first step. He held his breath as he stared at his feet, expecting something in the blackness behind the stairs to reach through and grab his ankles. He advanced down further, leaving the warmth of the kitchen behind. The others followed behind him and crowded the stairs, thus clogging up his escape route.

He lifted his wrist as he heard Canada and his group departing the kitchen. His flashlight shone a strong ray of light that cut into the darkness to his left, stopping upon a towering black shape. A large wooden wine tank was there, and as he swept his light over while he walked along, another grand one a few metres to his side was illuminated, held fast on wooden planks. Beside him, Austria and Hungary explored the right wall of darkness with their flashlights, piercing the black and finding as well, nothing but wine tanks lined up to their sides.

Switzerland looked back down at Liechtenstein unsurely before he released her hand to leave her under the light. He walked towards the darkness, directly up to the first wine tank on his left. He raised a hand and knocked heftily on the wood. A firm thunk that indicated hollowness answered him. Catching sight of what he was doing, Hungary and Austria headed over to their own wooden tanks and pounded the wood.

"All of them must be empty," Hungary said as she walked onwards and tapped on the next one down.

Switzerland walked back to Liechtenstein and just looked over her without touching her, as though to check that she had not been wounded during the few seconds he had left her alone.

"So what should we look for in here?" Austria said. "The only thing that seems to be in here are these barrels and _that_."

He swung his light across the room at the grumbling heater next to a closed fusebox.

"Well, I suppose," Switzerland muttered, "we just search behind the tanks and see if Prussia is bound and gagged somewhere."

They stared back at the pitch blackness that the individual beams constantly zoomed around and sliced through, intercrossing each other as they wildly searched for things hiding between the wooden tanks or in the corners. The hands holding the lights felt locked and frozen on the metal as they and their owners trembled harshly.

"Back there you mean?" Austria murmured weakly. He let his light shine between two tanks and lock onto the wall. Around the beam, the light floated like mist as it weakened and blended into the darkness, and by his face, Austria saw another mist that was familiar- that of his own breath.

When he saw this although he had not only a minute before, he felt adrenaline race through his arteries. He went pale and he whipped his gaze over to the exit that seemed too far away; an open door between cold stone walls that revealed part of the calm and clean kitchen. He wavered back and forth uncertainly, starting to feel rather faint when his head rushed as his blood flowed to his muscles.

Hungary happened to glance back at him, and she noticed the utter stress written on his face. She mirrored his nervousness as she shone her light between two barrels, but the look on his face gave her the powerful desire to calm him. She gave him a nice smile, holding her quivering lips taut so that it would last long enough for Austria to see it and for her to speak to him.

"Hey," she said. "Don't worry. This will be over quickly."

Austria nodded at her, and then he turned back to where his light was shining. He swallowed before taking a step into the darkness. He threw a fleeting glance over his shoulder, and he saw Switzerland and Liechtenstein across the room and already heading deep into the shadows.

"Ow!"

Austria jumped at the sound of Hungary's yell, and he whipped his body to the side, although the light only crashed onto the tank beside him.

"Hungary?" he cried. "Are you alright?"

She called back, "Yeah, sorry. I just pricked my arm. Probably got a sliver now."

Austria sighed and turned back forward. In his startlement he had leapt back closer to the light in the center of the room, and now he turned back to the darkness he was going to have to reenter. He took a step back in, shaking ever more so from the scare. The flashlight nearly slipped from his grasp, but he threw up his other hand and clasped it from under the bottom. His hand tapped on the metal softly, but as he looked upwards his legs froze. His eyes widened and his ears strained to listen.

Close to him, he heard an odd sound, something quiet upon the floor. He backed away on wobbling legs, feet dragging over the stone and the sweat sticking to his back. Tears pricked the corners of his eyes as he realized how similar that sound had been to the sounds his own two feet were currently making. He came back into the light, tears of fear now breaking free as he continued to look at the circle of light on the wall in front of him.

"Th-there's…" he stuttered over his words, now looking desperately around for the others who were already out of sight.

Then, he heard the dragging again in the darkness, and he squeezed his eyes shut and shrieked, " _There's someone back there!_ "

Switzerland's yell of surprise was cut off by a shriek near Austria. He jolted and the flashlight fell from his hand, which was left behind as he scrabbled away. A metallic clatter echoed throughout the room, and Austria screamed, " _Hungary!_ "

Her flashlight rolled over the bumpy floor as Austria rounded the corner and came to the barrels she had walked between. For but a second, he could see her rushing forward with stark fear on her face, eyes huge and mouth opening to scream. That was when the flashlight turned towards him, and so the shadows crept back in around her and she disappeared from sight. However, in the moment before the light had turned away, he had caught sight of something that caused his eyes to grow wide and a bloodcurdling scream to rip from his throat.

He sprinted into the darkness, shouting out her name and arms reaching out for her. He swung out blindly, air flowing through his fingers as he grasped nothingness in his hands. He kept running, desperately chasing after her, fingers straining to get just a touch of her, yet they felt nothing but freezing air.

His fingers jammed against something, and then as he drew his arms back, the momentum that carried him and brought him smashing into the wall. He let out a cry of pain as rough stone met his face and his glasses exploded against it, glass pieces slicing his face before sliding off and crashing to the floor. His forehead was gashed as he fell forward, and his arms flung out in time to save himself from hitting his face off the floor this time. His mangled glasses slipped off and silently fell somewhere in the darkness below him.

Hands grabbed his arms and locked on powerfully, and Austria shrieked and fought against them. He then heard Switzerland's voice bark by his ear, "We're getting out of here, now!"

He swung Austria around and dragged him out of the darkness. They tore across the floor with the banging of Liechtenstein's footsteps on the wooden stairs already audible. Austria heaved roughly through a thick sob of fear and terror that was caught in his throat, and he tripped over the last stair in front of Switzerland. He crashed and slid across the kitchen floor while Switzerland leapt upwards and slammed the door behind him. Switzerland then tottered over and collected Austria from off the floor. The other was in a silent shock although he was crying heavily, and Switzerland checked over the face that dripped twin streams of blood from his nose and as well had blood washing down his forehead, mixing with the tears that flowed over the cuts on his nose.

"What was that?" Switzerland hollered. "What happened?"

Austria shook harder and dropped his head and he started to hyperventilate. Switzerland clasped a hand over his neck and felt his heat and impossible pulse.

"Calm down!" he cried. Austria did not respond, still gasping for a breath he could not attain. Austria clutched panickingly at his own chest, and he stared blindly back at Switzerland.

Liechtenstein was already crying in fear and even more tears dripped down her face as she saw the state Austria was now in. She knelt down at their side and she whimpered to him, "Please, Mr. Austria, you're hurting yourself!"

But he could not get his body to stop spasming and for his lungs to expand. He snatched Switzerland's shoulders, and looking as though he wanted to choke out a reply to his question, but the energy left him and his eyes finally closed before he crumpled against Switzerland.

Switzerland grabbed him under the armpits and ground his teeth as he lifted his limp body. Liechtenstein was on Austria's other side and helping to drag his upright body between them. Although she was right beside him, Switzerland called out, "We need to tell everyone what just happened!"

They rounded the corner and dropped Austria onto one of the mattresses. Switzerland stumbled over to the speakers and he scanned the ground frantically for the microphone. He found it and turned it on before flicking on the speakers and cranking the volume so he could scream into the microphone, " _Everyone come to the front right now, this is an emergency! Get down here now!_ "

He dropped the microphone on the bed as he hurried back over to Liechtenstein and Austria. The impact caused a loud buzz to blare, and in various far locations in the house, people were already snapping into action, yelling at each other and racing through the halls.

A mass of people flooded down the stairs, Germany's voice already roaring out above the chaos, "What happened?"

"Hungary is gone!" Switzerland gasped. "We were in the cellar and something _took_ her! She vanished out of thin air!"

Germany jogged to their side.

"No." His voice shook. "That's impossible!"

"Austria saw it," Liechtenstein whimpered. "He was right in front of her!"

More groups arrived on scene, panicking and shaking, demanding about what had happened, for they had arrived too late and had missed the response. Everyone however, instantly saw Austria collapsed with his bloodied face unresponsive and pressed against the mattress.

France regarded the remaining wreck of the group he had spoken to not so long ago, and he breathed under his breath in his own language, " _Oh my god_."

Most people drifted over to Austria and bent low or crouched by him. His eyes creaked open and the blur of people sharpened as he regained consciousness. He breathed very quietly, with his ribs barely rising and falling under his suit.

Canada took a quick sweep of the room and noted that one group had not come downstairs and must have completely been incapable of hearing the call. He glanced at the clock, and saw that they could be coming down regardless at six for dinner in half an hour.

Germany went straight to Austria and pulled him up to a sitting position.

"What did you see?" he demanded.

The tears started again and he lowered his gaze from him and began to cry. He tried to force out words, but they came out as absolute gibberish as his body panicked again as though it was under assault. Germany stared at this man in shock, completely taken back by the state he was in, for it was nothing that he had witnessed before and he wondered what could have reduced him into such a pitiful mess.

He took his shoulders as Switzerland had done, trying to get him to snap out of this state. When it accomplished nothing, he stopped, and then asked him again with a softer voice, "Please. You have to tell everyone what you saw."

Austria lifted only his eyes; wide black pupils ringed with violet that shimmered under the pool. He drew back his lips and he parted his teeth while he clutched a hand to his vibrating diaphragm, pressing it painfully to make it still.

"I-I saw…" he choked and squeezed his eyes shut. "They c-came out from the shadows- bl-black hands… Th-they grabbed her an-and-"

He broke out into a fit of sobs before he whipped his head backwards and cried to the ceiling. Germany lowered his voice and tried telling him to calm himself, but these words could not reach him. Austria slipped from his grip as he fell backwards onto his back on the bed. He threw an arm over his eyes despite the blood that would stain his sleeve, and he continued to bawl. For a few moments, all anybody could do was watch him, their own horror rising within them. No one said anything else to him, and no one moved forward to touch him or comfort him. In fact, they were petrified without decision as they were trapped in each of their own terrified consciousnesses.

Canada was the first to break from the shocked trance and he said, "He needs to be treated."

Austria's face was still bleeding, with slow waterfalls of blood falling over his temples, chin, and cheeks. Canada paced forward and knelt by the mattress before he slipped his arm under Austria's body and sat him back up. Austria quieted slightly as he registered Canada's presence, and he slid his eyes over and looked at him with confused vision.

"Somebody help me," Canada murmured. China stepped out and came to the other side of Austria, throwing his right arm over his shoulders before standing up with Canada and starting to walk Austria to the stairs. Austria moved his feet once they had been dragged on the floor for a few metres, and he started to walk, but only at a slow pace that Canada and China had to adapt to.

As they departed, Vietnam hurled out, "What are we going to do now?"

So suddenly the room had sharp glares being thrown across it to focus onto the four who that they had only the day before so willingly given their trust to. Their eyes challenged; there was fear, but also an aggression that just begged the "leaders" to fall so that they could find something physical to blame. A chorus of protests arose, and no one of the voices could be singled out. Britain, France, America, and Germany furrowed their eyebrows and looked around at the crowd, eyes flashing between the discontent faces and snapping teeth.

Germany clenched his fingers into claw-like hooks and he roared, " _Listeeen!_ "

They were shocked into silence as his voice rang in their ears.

"We are doing all we can, got that?" he growled. "It doesn't matter who is in charge! You all would chose the same course of action that we are taking regardless!"

Switzerland hissed, "You said that there was nothing going on! Everyone tried to warn you, but you didn't listen!"

"Nobody has to panic!" Germany hollered. "We can deal with this situation. We will get through this together!"

"How?" Vietnam cried out.

Poland exclaimed, "We haven't even found anything yet, and who says that we even will?"

"We will!"

"Are you kidding me?" Romano gasped. "How are we supposed to go on searching if ghosts are just going to keep picking us off?"

And there it was; the word that no one had been able to voice yet, and had often been cut off before it could even be uttered. _Ghosts_. The crowd cried out and shook, anger replaced by instantaneous fear. But then there were three who did not shake. The four at the front picked them out easily, and then met their eyes as the three strode past the others towards them. Finland, Denmark, and Sweden stopped before them with their backs to the crowd.

Denmark's voice was heard clearly by all as he said, "It was a person."

"What?" Britain said.

"A person took Prussia, not a ghost," he reaffirmed. "We found the room he was taken from. There is blood all over the floor and piano, and it looks like someone tried to clean it up. And that sound from yesterday? Not a moan. It was that piano. A huge pipe organ that someone threw Prussia against when they attacked him."

"Where?" Germany demanded.

Sweden said, "Fifth floor. Music room."

The four gave approving nods and sagged their tense shoulders in relief as the rest of the room quieted and stilled as they stared at the backs of these three Nordics.

"We'll show you," Finland said, and he was the first to initiate the movement towards the stairs.

Britain threw a glance over his shoulder at the people cautiously following after them.

"I recommend against following us," he said. It had not been a command, and this time people considered his suggestion for its worth. Many stayed behind, although a few continued on up the stairs after the seven.

It was easy to forget the unnerving atmosphere of the fifth floor as the crowd jogged down the hall with brains pounding with hope. It was odd, although not noted by any of them, even Germany- that this news gladdened them so much. It was the news of Prussia's misfortune, but then again, the idea of a human enemy was easier to hate and bring their perturbed minds to a sort of false peace.

The explanation and tour around the room was done simply. Eyes followed the showing hands of the Nordics, focusing on them more than the movement of the mouths in their cold, serious faces. To the assembly, they spilled out their suspicions in full honesty; that more than one person was involved, and that because the time between the attack and exchange for the paper had only been ten minutes, this meant that one of the three hosts was to be suspected of placing the note.

"Unless anyone else remembers seeing someone entering the kitchen," Finland closed.

"No," Spain replied. "I was too distracted to notice anything else going on."

"Same," Lithuania said.

Japan added, "Then we can't really be sure that it wasn't anyone else."

"True…" America muttered. "But we really got to get on their cases ASAP. Weren't they acting weird last night? Like, Romania and Moldova? It looked like Moldova kept wanting to say something, but Romania wouldn't let him."

Germany growled,"Then now is the time we confront them."

* * *

The group that had not come to the call was now present in the main room. Five people: Romania, Moldova, Bulgaria, Ukraine, and Belarus, were all shocked to hear about the events that had just unfolded. They stared at Austria, who was shivering under the blankets draped around him, no longer crying but sitting there silently and with gauze taped to his now clean, but pale, face.

Canada stood by the new group, just finishing up the explanation of what had happened to Austria and his group. The others in the room heard him and watched him as they listened without participating. However, by the end of his telling, and before he could get to reasons for the departure of the others to the fifth floor, Russia's voice rose up and Canada found himself interrupted.

"It is very strange, is everyone not thinking so too? Germany was accusing Austria and Hungary earlier, and then she disappeared."

Austria flashed his eyes upwards as Russia continued and added to his observation, "Maybe this is a coverup?"

Russia blinked and turned when he heard a wavering breath. He looked down and to his left, where Austria was sitting on the floor and staring up at him with sharp eyes full of rage and deep suffering.

"How dare you?" he breathed.

Russia gave an inquisitive hum, which Austria was convinced to be too purposefully innocent, which only infuriated him further.

"You are just trying to get the suspicion off yourself!" Austria snapped. "But everyone here already knows that you are the most likely to be behind all this!"

"But why should they believe it is me?" Russia mused. "There is no evidence, da? But you two were doing the strange things last night."

"We were doing nothing!" he hurled back.

"Hmm, but how can we know that?"

The crowd of people who had left the room were now advancing down the stairs towards the scene, although Austria did not seem to notice them as he yelled his reply, "Why would we be behind such a thing? We were close to Prussia!"

"But I was hearing things about that Hungary did not like him so much. Is this right?" Russia pondered aloud. "Because then she might have left to go hide wherever Prussia is. Maybe it is too hard to keep him alive in the hiding spot with the logbook?"

"She is not hiding!" His eyes narrowed and his eyebrows lifted. "How could you possibly think that?"

"Ah," Russia looked to the side and hummed again, once again irritating Austria's ears with that sound. "Maybe it is because the only person saying this is you?"

Canada saw the eyebrows around the room falling as people inclined and lowered their heads towards Austria with uncertainty in their gazes.

Canada started to say, "Let's not start this-"

However, the last statement had thrown Austria into a explosion of emotion. He slammed his eyes shut and he shouted, " _We have nothing to do with this! I saw her get taken right in front of me and you think that I am lying? That this is a sick game that I have devised with her? No! She's really gone! Hungary is gone!_ "

The now shocked eyes observed him as his face collapsed into his hands. Austria forgot Russia as the anguish that could not be held down seeped freely from him. Between his sobs, he now whimpered, "She's gone… she's gone and I don't know if she is okay. She disappeared right in front of me, and I couldn't do a thing to save her."

Russia cocked his head as he watched the reaction, trying to figure out what it meant. At this point, the others stepped in between them and America said, "Listen up everybody. Leave this dude alone for now because we got something else to tell you."

Germany was by his side, and he continued, "Because we now know the time of Prussia's disappearance, that means the note was placed in a time span of ten minutes. Whoever went into the kitchen during that time is responsible."

Romania immediately perked and exclaimed, "But Germany, nobody went into the kitchen!"

"No," he disagreed. "Someone did."

He turned to Bulgaria and Moldova. He looked into Bulgaria's eyes and said to him, "You brought out the prize."

"What? But the cupcakes were replaced!" Bulgaria gasped. "I had no time to do such a thing!"

"Unless there were never really any cupcakes to begin with."

Moldova piped up, "But there was, there was! I made them myself! And I know Bulgaria didn't touch them because I saw him only grab the cake dish and then walk out with it!"

Germany raised a brow, and Romania protested, "No, there's no way you think that my little brother- a _child_ is lying about this? That he could have any part in something like this?"

Britain uttered, "He is not innocent, and neither are you. You two have been hiding something from us the whole time, and it is high time that you shared what that is with us."

"No more secrets!" America cried. "Tell us what you know!"

Moldova startled, and he looked up at his brother with wide eyes.

"I tried to tell you that we should have told them," Moldova said quietly. "Now they're angry."

Romania looked past him and shook his head at the others.

"If I tell you," he said. "It will only make things worse. I promise you."

America chipped back, "Enough of that! Tell us what you are hiding!"

Romania started to shake his head, but Moldova pulled at the long silky clothes of his costume. He murmured, "I think you should tell them."

Bulgaria looked confused at the side, revealing that even he did not know what they were getting at. He touched his friend on the shoulder and said, "Hey. What's going on here?"

Romania sighed, and he swept his eyes over the faces around the room.

"Fine," he said. "I guess it's time that we all stop pretending anyway."

He paused for a second to clear his throat before he began.

"The truth is… this mansion is very haunted, with a long history of supernatural activity, making it one of the highest paranormal locations in Romania, well, at least based off my own personal experience. I bought this place for a cheap price, and despite the warnings from the terror-stricken previous owners, I took it because I have never felt so disturbed from ghosts. Besides, such a rather well-kept, huge mansion near the border to Moldova sounded like a dream come true. Now he can live with me if he wants, and he has been permitted to come over whenever he wants to because it is so close. So we've been here a week, and then Moldova asked me if we could host the Halloween party here. No one else had made plans yet, so, here we are."

"Hold on. You've lived here for a week already?" Poland gasped. "Are you crazy?"

"Again," Romania said with a sigh. "Spooky things don't bother me, or my brother. Sure, we see and hear things all the time, but the thing is, nothing has ever hurt us. There is nothing to be afraid of- these ghosts won't hurt you. They wander around, and they can't even see you. None of them seem to be conscious of the presence of the living."

" _Seem to be_?" Estonia threw out.

"We haven't encountered anything otherwise," Romania said. "Nothing but a few harmless bumps in the night, and some shadows here and there."

"But brother," Moldova piped up. "Tell them the history of the house. They need to know!"

"No, they don't," he uttered. "It won't help."

Germany growled, "No. You must tell us. You cannot hide anything about this place from us anymore!"

Romania exhaled slowly and then continued.

"Alright then. About the history of the house, well, I looked into it and found out a lot of interesting stories about this place. I've been told that this house has its foundation on supposedly sacred land, which is why it was chosen as a huge site for the burial ground in the backyard. The first people to live here I've heard, was a priest and his family. The children grew up and moved out, and the couple grew old and died here after a long time. The son sold the place to a rich old couple, who later died here as well.

"All this seems fine and all, but after this, it all got crazy. A huge family moved in from the west- and this was around seventy years ago just so you know. One night, a group of robbers broke into the house and they ended up murdering every family member they found- every person who tried to stop them, and every person they found sleeping undisturbed in their beds. Only the youngest child survived that night, and she became an orphan who had lost all of her siblings, parents, and grandparents. She never wanted to set foot back in the place after everything that happened, so she spent the rest of her young life with her uncle, who decided to sell the place. It was on sale for many years, after everything had been cleaned up, until another family bought it. Here came the first reports of paranormal activity. They said on the hardwood, stains like faces would appear that they could not clean up. They heard sounds, and saw shadows. Their daughter reported hearing another little girl singing, and a man speaking in the library when her father, the only male in her family- was sleeping in his room.

"The family was skeptical until the day their apparently intelligent and calm teenage daughter hung herself in the cellar. They now truly felt that a darkness had changed her and had made her do this- something in the house. They wanted to leave, but they held off on their decision because they could not afford another house. But, the supernatural occurrences only increased, and according to what I was told, they left the day they started seeing a black shape behind them in the bathroom mirror, and when the shadows of the house changed their pattern. They were convinced that the longer humans remained in the house, the more agitated the previous owners became. Eventually, they left and found refuge with an old friend, but not before their youngest daughter was injured by the chandelier mysteriously falling on her."

People gasped and craned their necks back to stare up at the new chandelier hanging directly above them all. Most were sitting now, pressing against those they trusted and a few holding pillows in their laps. Even Austria lifted his red eyes and a chill ran down his spine. He leaned into Italy now, who had already been there to comfort Austria ever since the attention had been switched to Romania. Doing what he would to be friendly and cheer up people, he was hugging Austria, who normally would not give too much reaction to when this was done to him, but now seemed rather dependent on the support for he closed his eyes and hugged back.

"One final person tried to live here," Romania continued. "He lasted two weeks. I spoke with him, and he told me, 'The misfortunes that have occurred here have surely turned this sacred land cursed. The spirits of the graveyard roam the mansion, until everywhere is cold and after a while, the shadows begin to follow you. In the night, demons prowl among the tombstones- black monsters with yellow eyes. I pray and await every morning with the most hopeful of hearts, and I am blessed to have survived every day and night in that forsaken house.'"

Romania shrugged and said, "Well, he said something along those lines."

"What the hell!" Romano yelled. "If you knew all that, why would you be so stupid as to want to live here?"

"Because people have given haunted places such bad reputations, trust me," Romania said. "They see a few things and overreact. But if you are calm and walk along, usually nothing will happen! Here we have just regular spirits. Demons? No. That is just stretching the truth. These shadows we see are just regular people that you would see on the street. They won't bother you, and they will just continue doing their own thing. Relax."

But the last words of the previous owner sent absolute fear into all of them, and they seemed unable to listen. Italy was quite surprised to find Austria squeezing him tightly and pressing his tear-stained face against his shoulder.

"Listen," Romania tried again. "Nothing to be afraid of. Nothing will happen!"

"But he was here for two weeks," Seychelles countered. "You haven't been here that long. What if it really does get worse?"

"The ghosts can't see us!" Romania exasperated. "They won't do anything! He must have been mistaken about the things he saw. Perhaps the shadows and he were just walking in the same direction. That might happen. I mean, the ones that I have seen stand around or disappear in a flash. But they do move around sometimes."

Yet still the panic could not die down. Many moaned in fear and clutched desperately at themselves. Romano had been sitting by Romania's feet, but now he had launched upwards to snatch Romania by his collar, his arms wobbling in terror and his eyes furious but shimmering with tears.

"Why the hell did you invite us all here?" he gasped. "Why? Why didn't you tell anyone? I would never have come if you had said all those things before!"

Romano dipped his head and let a few tears drip off his face while he continued to shake Romania back and forth.

"I'm sorry," Romania murmured. "It was not supposed to be this way. I only wanted to host a spooky Halloween party for you all. I never wanted to bring anybody into this. I never imagined that someone would disappear for the sake of some psycho game."

Romano released him, backing away and whimpering, "This is messed up- this is pretty damn messed up!"

"I know," Romania whispered. "But I can't help anyone. Really… now I only know as much as you do."

Yet now there was a confirmation that the leaders could no longer deny by waving the fears of the others off as figments of their imaginations or as a result of their fatigue. America especially, did not take this news so well, and his fear of ghosts that had been long established was now shown as he stood transfixed with huge eyes and twitching hands.

"No way dude, no way," he whispered. "Ghosts? Like, real ghosts are here, just roaming every hall?"

No one answered him, and so his next course of action was darting under his blanket, then sitting up with it enveloped around him. In truth he did not appear so strange for doing this, for already others were nestled up among piles of pillows and blankets and trying to find familiar comforts to soothe themselves as well.

France said to the other four, "I don't think we should go out again tonight. Not after all these scares today. We all need a break."

Britain added, "Right. How about we give everyone their dinner and try to relax for the rest of the night? Try to get some more sleep tonight too. Should help everyone feel better tomorrow morning."

"That sounds logical enough," Germany sighed. "After all, there is still not much we can do about our situation, is there? Especially now. We just need to keep everyone calm and focused. Tomorrow we should then be able to finish off searching the entirety of this house, as long as we keep it together like we did today. We will just have to be careful in the darkness, and ignore everything else."


	4. Skeleton Smiles

_Things are breaking up. I don't understand why. We began well; we were happy. And then - ...Then people started getting frightened._

* * *

There was not much for anyone to do with themselves after dinner. They sat together in their groups, silent, for no one had the courage to speak. Eyes stared down the left and right halls, and up the stairs as well, waiting for the first sign of movement, for a shadow to shift and a noise to came forth from the darkness.

The occasional creak was emitted, but they were random and after a brief startle, all calmed as they realized that it had only been the regular creaking of the house. Through the glass came thick, bleeding orange light that coloured their exhausted faces and was seen under their eyelids during slow blinks. The sky above the forest and path was nothing short of beautiful; the bellies of clouds were shining pink and amber, and the sky was a cool blue with streaks of colour alighting and growing stronger on the horizon. The eyes of the gathered people drifted away from the dark halls, and they lifted their chins and stared out together at the sunset. For a moment, they felt almost as though they were no longer in this situation, that all was a dream or had been imagined. Threats faded, and they watched the sky lighting up as they pressed closer to each other.

The decline of light escaping over the horizon was all too sudden for them; a peripeteia where the mood of the scene changed and the hypnotism broke. The blue turned darker, the clouds greyer, and the sun bid its farewell. They continued to stare after what had been lost, and now they blinked back frightened tears as stars stabbed through the cloth of the sky. The world outside only grew rapidly blacker, and every shadow that they had driven into the corners now expanded and prowled back into their previous domains in the hallways.

Britain murmured, "There's nothing else for us to do now. We should all go to sleep."

He stood up and headed over to the logbook and was soon joined by the other four. However, as he stared down at the paper and noticed its general emptiness, that was when he realized it.

"We all forgot to sign back in," he said.

"Ah," France murmured, with a look back at the clock. "Well, we all came back around the same time and in our groups, so it is not that big of a problem."

Canada quickly sucked on his lip, and then decided to agree. He saw this logbook as crucial for their organization, but he could understand France's point in that writing down the times everyone had arrived back with their groups would not catch any suspicious activities this time.

"We have to be more careful next time," Canada said. "No matter how scared we get, we can't forget in case the next time the chaos is used for someone to be unaccounted for a few minutes and go unnoticed."

They nodded their agreement before they left the room. Once they were seen leaving, everyone got up and went together in a horde to the second floor's bathroom. They had been informed earlier of a bathroom upon the fourth floor and others far away to the left and right wings of the building, but absolutely none of them had such a desire to wander so far away.

So the hall had a line up of people. In this line, people murmured to each other in order to pass the time while they stayed here in this unnerving area, and as well to break the silence. With all of the voices, it was at least possible to create a steady hum that sounded so human and regular.

Japan bowed his head and spoke lowly as to not grab any attention when he said to China, "You know, we never did find out about what they saw down this hall last night."

"That's right!" China agreed, voice as well quiet but still with energy in it. "They didn't tell us anything!"

"Then it was probably a bad thing," Japan said. "Do you think that if I ask Mr. Germany about it, he will tell me?"

"Definitely," China nodded. "What would be the point of hiding it now that everyone knows this place is haunted?"

Japan gave him a calm nod. Their conversation lagged, but then China perked and a look of uncertainty crossed his face.

As they took a step forward in line, he said, "Hey, remember in Romania's story when he said that the family saw a black shape behind them in the bathroom? I wonder which bathroom he meant."

Japan blinked a few times rapidly as his eyebrows raised. He had forgotten to wonder about this detail, and now an uncomfortable fear settled in as China's point hit him. The two of them were now unsure of the bathroom they were approaching. However, eventually it was China's turn, and he went in and out fast without any problems. Japan went in with an anxiously pounding heart. When he came to the sink to wash his hands, he did not dare take his eyes away from the mirror. He leaned in and pressed the soap dispenser to put just a bead of soap in the palm of his hand, his eyes still raised and gazing over the entirety of the mirror for black spots.

As he scrubbed his hands, he straightened and happened to notice the condition of his face. The choppy night of sleep from the day before had not done his face any good. Two solid rings hooked under each eye as though they had been carved there by a knife; deep like flesh had been removed under each eyelid. His gaze looked unhealthy as well; already he was experiencing dizziness and haziness in his vision from the exhaustion, but he could see quite well how he even looked unfocused.

He left the mirror for a moment to walk to the towel hanging on the wall. He hesitantly turned to check the mirror one final time as he walked by it on the way to the door. He saw nothing but his own frightened face glancing over his shoulder back at him.

Japan was surprised to see that China had waited for him before going down the stairs. It seemed now was the time that they were going to ask Germany about the noise on the second floor from the previous night.

They found him in the kitchen giving out water to people, so they took their cups and stepped into this line. When Japan came up to Germany, now alone with just China, Russia, and Belarus in the line, he said quietly to him, "I would like to speak with you after this, if that is okay with you."

"Yes," Germany nodded to his friend. "Of course."

Once alone in the kitchen, Germany told these two what had been found, but they were told to not tell anyone else. To this, they agreed.

* * *

One-by-one, all burrowed under their cool blankets which would soon warm up to their body's heat. Instantly they shifted nearer to the people closest to them, once again pressing and holding as though they could protect each other in this way. Although, it was but unconsciously hopeful thinking to keep their panic-stricken minds from collapsing.

France dragged his finger down the lists to confirm that everyone had returned before he headed over to his group's area and slipped in under the covers. He was the last one in bed.

Deep inhales and exhales were heard around the room. Tonight there was no wind as there had been before, which was now greatly missed. Silence crept throughout the deepest corners of the house, coming towards them all. They could imagine this as well. Some lay back, eyes closed, as they pictured the darkest rooms that were somewhere far away, and from them, lurching shadow figures parted from the blackness to slowly head towards the main entrance.

Others tried giving way to their fatigue, but the inquisitive creaks of the house always woke them. With hammering hearts, they would roll their heads and check every direction of hall to confirm that nothing was standing there and watching them. Before they would close their eyes again, nervous glances were given to the heavy chandelier hanging still above them.

None of them would have ever believed it to be possible, especially after Romania's story, that their bodies would power off. Here and there, people flicked off as though a finger had pushed down a switch within them. They lost control of their bodies, and despite the fear, deep sleep overcame them and stole them from their fears and took them to black nothingness.

That clock in the background just kept ticking, counting them off.

 _Tick._

One more person fell asleep.

 _Tick, tick, tick._

Another.

In the following minute, two more drifted away from this world of horror.

 _Tick._

The shivering children stilled. They slept in their tight, little balls.

 _Tick, tick, tick._

The Nordics guarding them could not hold their eyes open any longer. Sleep hit them like blows to the head, and they lost all consciousness.

Hours disappeared in a flash. The last thing he remembered was the clock, and it was the first thing he was aware of as well. Kugelmugel stirred in the middle of a sea of silent bodies, and even his movements did not disturb Sealand and Ladonia who were beside him. Kugelmugel did not sit up, but he pushed his upper body up so he could get enough leverage to take a look around. On either side of him, people were deep asleep, and Kugelmugel was surprised in how this had all happened so suddenly. He twisted his head backwards and checked the clock. It was four in the morning now.

He felt the heaviness of his bladder, but he did not feel the urge to wake an adult to take him up the stairs. Even if all the lights here and upstairs had been left on. He decided that he would be able to wait the next few hours until people would wake up on their own naturally. Then at least the exhausted faces beside him would get more rest. He cast his eyes over Sweden's face, and decided that he deserved to be left undisturbed.

He was about to lie back down when in the corner of his eye, he noticed a form sitting across the room. He whipped in head in that direction, and he saw that someone else was indeed awake.

Russia was sitting cross-legged and inclined slightly over his legs. From his black clothes, his demonic wings sprouted from his bent back, and a stiff tail curled over the pillows with its tip pointing upwards. Russia had since removed his fake claws and horns, but these things were attached to his clothes and could not be removed. His metallic purple scarf hung silkily over his shoulders and touched the blankets, the left end beside Ukraine's sleeping face.

His posture was calm, but Kugelmugel was locked onto his face that contradicted this relaxation. He noted its paleness, and the unhealthy rings under his eyes that seemed a little more profound than the others. Russia had not noticed him staring, and he was in fact, directing a piercing gaze forward at the stairs, seemingly unaware of Kugelmugel at all.

Kugelmugel curiously followed Russia's gaze. He turned his head slowly until he faced the mahogany-carpeted staircase where a white mist was descending down the steps. His heart jolted, and he squeezed the blankets to his chest. He wondered desperately what they should do. If he should scream and awaken everybody so that they could run.

His mind then froze. The mist that had an unsettling human shape glided over the final step and now hovered over the floor. It still slowly advanced, coming closer to the sleeping area. Silent, creeping along centimetre-by-centimetre closer. It started to pass right through the table just a few metres away from the edge of the sleeping area.

As it came closer, it grew paler. It slowly faded away as it continued to float forward, until it completely pulled apart and vanished. Kugelmugel now blinked, and he felt his tears while simultaneously becoming aware of his intense trembling. He turned his head away from the stairs and looked to his right.

Russia was staring at him. Kugelmugel startled, but then he could only look back at him. He at first did not notice that Russia was murmuring. However, he saw how his mouth moved under his intense violet gaze, and that he was saying something to him. Kugelmugel tilted his head, and Russia moved his lips again. Yet he was speaking too quietly, and Kugelmugel could not catch what he was saying.

Russia flicked his head in the direction of the stairs. Kugelmugel blinked at him. He was not sure what he meant, and he believed that Russia was trying to ask if he had seen the mist as well. Kugelmugel nodded, and he was surprised when Russia promptly stood up. He watched Russia walk around the table and then pause at the bottom of the stairs. He looked back at Kugelmugel, eyes steady upon him. That was when Kugelmugel realized that Russia was expecting him to follow.

Kugelmugel rose and cautiously stepped past the others before finding a clear path between the groups to walk through. He padded forward, crawled under the table, and then stood up beside Russia.

"I didn't hear you," Kugelmugel whispered.

Russia said, "I asked if you wanted to go to the bathroom. Maybe you do? Is this why you woke up?"

Kugelmugel hesitated. He stared fearfully up at the stairs and then back at Russia, absolutely confused at his willingness to go upstairs after what they had just seen. He then admitted, "Yes."

"I can take you."

Kugelmugel knew he should have expected him to say this based on where they were and because of the previous question, but he had not. He stared at Russia for a few seconds, unsure of how to respond. He did not know Russia. He was but a micronation in Austria who did not have many outside connections, and did not get out much to meet any other nations. All he had were rumors, little snippets of conversation between Austria, Germany, Hungary, Prussia, and other guests that came to the house.

From what he knew, no one liked this man at all. He was described as creepy, unpredictable, and even as evil. Then there was a well-known quote that he had caught someone reciting in the house when the subject of this Slavic nation was brought up. They had said, _Russia is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma_. Yet he could only find intrigue in such words. They had uttered this out of spite, but Kugelmugel could only find poetry in it. He found nothing to fear, but rather he felt that the words only described a person with an interestingly deep personality.

He had not been corrupted by the other's opinion, for he had never been keen to the idea of believing them. He had trained himself for years to have an open mind, in order to see art and beauty in everything around him. So he now analyzed the person in front of him; a new portrait to examine and see what inner details were hidden within. He was allured by the exhausted face, for it seemed so tragically haunted that could only be described as magnificent. The matching colour of his scarf and eyes sharpened him wonderfully, and the blackness of his clothes soothed out his appearance. It was hard for Kugelmugel to see a demon. Like so many other things he encountered in life, he saw only art.

So he nodded and said, "Okay."

Before Russia turned away, he took a final glance over this unfamiliar micronation. He was completely dressed in black with shimmering feathers on most of his clothes except for his pants. He had wings sewn under his arms, so if he spread them out, he would shown off soft, large primary and secondary feathers. He looked at Russia with violet eyes as deep as his own, and above them hung soft hair over his forehead. His light-coloured hair was long and tied into two neat braids that dropped over his shoulders and his pompous, feathered collar. This boy was thin and so small compared to him. Russia was amazed that he had approached him so readily when others never seemed to do this.

Kugelmugel was given a little smile before Russia turned from him and ascended the stairs. He went up just a step before him, and Kugelmugel followed behind and flanked the black tail. At the top of the stairs, he looked back at the unresponsive sleeping mass on the floor, before he disappeared out of their view as he trailed Russia down the hall.

* * *

 _Tick, tick, tick._

Then the crows broke out into a rowdy chorus and all were startled awake. A collective gasp arose in the room, as they shot up with thundering hearts, immediately remembering where they were and everything that had happened the previous night. They then seemed confused however, to find that sunlight was falling upon them and that somehow the night had passed.

They were surprisingly refreshed despite it all, but ravenous and blurry-minded. The basic lines to the bathroom and the kitchen were established, and with the movement of people slugging around between the two floors, it was hard for Britain to count them. He had no choice but to wait until everyone was seated down with their food before he lifted the pencil in his hand tapped the air as though touching the eraser over each head.

As he was counting, he became unsure if he had counted a group twice, so he sighed and tried again. He furrowed his eyebrows as he came up with only 32- _did I miss a group?_ \- and he started again and was halfway through when he realized he had forgotten to count himself.

 _Are three people missing?_ He had to count for the third time.

America came over when he heard Britain groan and clutch his face.

"Yo, you alright dude?" America asked.

"I keep messing up the count."

"You looked stressed. I'll help."

America did not point at them, but he only locked onto each person with his eyes as he murmured while counting them.

"Ah, yeah," America nodded. "34, plus us. Everyone's here."

Britain was not entirely sure if he could count on America's counting skills, so he checked the groups and tried to see if he could notice if someone was missing. When he could not, he shrugged and nodded.

"No one went out anyway last night," Britain added. "It seems we all just stayed down here and slept."

"Really? No one?"

"Well, after the story from last night, it is only natural that no one wanted to wander the halls at night. Absolutely no one signed out."

After this brief discussion, the time came to rally everyone together and give out the orders. The leaders came to the front and looked at the crowd with fresh and clear eyes.

With a rather energetic perk, America said, "Alright dudes, time to get real! We're going to finish off searching this mansion once and for all today! All we've got to do is stick tight together and don't get too close to the shadows!"

Bright eyes stared back, but they blinked in confusion. They had seen America quaking with fear the night before, and they wondered how he had changed mood so suddenly. A general thought crossed all of their minds, and it was: _what has happened to America overnight?_

He flashed them one of his renowned "hero" grins. Germany stood beside him with his arms crossed, biceps popping, and jawline grim. Britain's posture was relaxed, and his face looked as though it was deep in thought and either unable to obtain any conclusions, or he was dissatisfied with them. Canada was calm as well, but his face only caring as he checked over the individuals.

France's expression was more surprising. He looked down with half-lidded eyes and despair flowing in his gaze, and it did not look like he would be cleansed of this downcast face anytime soon. The lack of hope, energy, or seriousness radiating from him set him greatly apart from the other four leaders. Like he was a piece of another puzzle and could not be forced to fit in here. He even held at the front of his clothes uncomfortably, as if even he was aware that his presence was offsetting.

"Lunch once again at one," Germany stated. "Be here on time."

The final locations to search were given out, and then they went to it. This time, all signed out. None of them gave any indication of having recalled that they had missed signing in last night, but as Canada looked over their facial expressions, he realized that perhaps they did not care. Maybe they thought like France had, and that because they all came back at the same time, then it was not necessary for this occasion. However, maybe some just did not see the purpose of the logbook, and that was why they did think much about it. Canada highly disbelieved this last idea.

The groups started to split from each other. Canada checked around for his group members. Britain and France could already be seen approaching him, but Canada looked past them for the little micronation dressed as a bird. The one who dropped feathers all over the place from his poofy, feathery scarf.

 _Where is Kugelmugel?_

"Let's get going," Britain burst into his thoughts.

Canada opened his mouth and turned to him, ready to point out that a member of the group was missing, but then he jumped. Beside his knees the entire time, the child had been standing. Kugelmugel looked up at him with his clear, violet eyes that always seemed to be soaking up the world around him. He blinked passively, saying nothing as he stared up at Canada.

"Sorry," he whispered to Kugelmugel as they departed. He felt bad for having not seen him, and he understood how it felt to not be noticed by the others. Kugelmugel did not seem to mind it, perhaps because he knew it was because he was just small, or perhaps because his mind had already wandered to consider new forms of art.

* * *

Belarus had always had an interest in ghosts. She was a fan of haunted houses, and she had even dragged her brother once before to take her to the Winchester Mystery House in America. She had never found anything to fear with them, and even now all she could do was glare at the jittery movements of the others. However, as her group left the wide-eyed, shivering people behind, she felt some satisfaction. Her group was in no way fearful like the others.

Romania and Moldova were here for starters. The ones who had lived here for a week. While everyone had been absolutely shocked to hear this, all she could think is how she would have loved to have a huge, old, and haunted mansion for herself to live in. The boring hours of her life could pass by so easily as she hunted for prime photo opportunities.

Ukraine was here as well, and she was quite tense and nervous, but Belarus had not expected much else. She knew her sister was, as Belarus considered her to be, _soft_. She was almost the same as the others with their reactions, except that when surrounded by calm people, she could relax more, even when they journeyed through cold spots. As for Bulgaria, he was composed, but ever since the story from last night, he had permanently constricted eyes from his uneasiness.

She was unhappy that their group had not encountered anything. She could only smirk inwardly at Austria's dramatic story, not necessarily because of Hungary's loss, but because she found it amusing that he had thought a ghost had taken her. However, the others had had some really juicy stories. Already some were floating around the group. The extra shadow. The lights that flickered off. Moving Halloween decorations. Tapping on the window. Whispering from a closet. She wondered, why could they not have encountered anything like this?

After all, she would have loved to see a ghost. They were so much more to look at for her. Others saw shadows, but she could see the people, for she had always had the ability to see ghosts.

Ukraine gasped beside her, and her heart picked up in excitement. She whipped her head all around, and then caught sight of movement down the hall behind them. Ukraine's eyes quivered, beholding a dark mass that drifted a few meters towards them before stopping. The others stopped and stared backwards, and yet while Bulgaria inhaled a hitched breath, Romania and Moldova only blinked.

In Belarus's vision, an old man padded softly down the hall, slow as if still taking it easy in his old age. He had a kind grandfather look to him; twinkling blue eyes that his wrinkles would scrunch around as he smiled and held a grandchild. However, these eyes were not at all upon them, merely cast down as though the old man was daydreaming.

Eventually, he grew pale and he disappeared entirely. The shadow had dissolved and was now gone.

"He seemed nice," Belarus uttered. She said nothing more despite the disagreeing glance her sister threw at her.

After this, they finished searching. Belarus was disappointed greatly when no other spirit people wandered blindly by them. She trailed after the group, shoulders sagging slightly from her low mood. She swung her head back excitedly at a creak, but then frowned when nothing was there. A common groan of the house. Her unhappiness increased, and as they headed back to the main entrance, her mind went blank as she stared at the golden thread patterns on the carpet.

For her, they were suddenly in the main room. She immediately perked, shoulders flying back up and posture straightening. She had caught sight of her brother, and now she was hurrying directly to Russia. He raised his eyebrows as she approached, but then his unusually downcast face returned.

"Russia, you look unhappy," she said. "What can I do about this?"

He sighed, "I do not know if you can be doing anything about it though."

"What is it?"

Russia peered over at his other group members, who had already drifted off. However, upon hearing his voice, America and Britain had lifted their eyes to observe Russia and Belarus conversing.

"Maybe I will tell you later," he murmured. "Not now."

She dipped her head as a single nod. She then came closer to him, and Russia squeezed his arms closer to himself uncertainly. She grazed her hand over one of his wings, and then played with the end of his scarf, dropping it over one of her hands and letting the cloth dip between her fingers.

"I can make you feel better," she said. "I will do anything for you."

Russia swallowed then said, "I know…"

"Anything."

He bared his teeth and looked to the side uncomfortably. At this time, Ukraine had reached their side after briefly going over to the table. She saw his discomfort with Belarus, but then she also noted the low emotion on his face.

Ukraine lifted a hand and stretched up to touch the side of his face. She felt his skin while asking, "You aren't getting sick, are you?"

He shook his head.

"Well, you do look pale. I hope you are feeling okay," Ukraine continued.

Belarus muttered, "I'm here. He will get better."

"I'm fine..." he said, trailing off as he looked over and saw how the five leaders were now staring at him in a way that made him wary.

"Lie down," Ukraine murmured.

He did, and he even slipped the blankets over himself as he settled down for the few minutes they would have before the other groups arrived. Belarus hopped down to her knees beside him and clung to his side, but he ignored her as he relaxed his muscles. He tried shutting his eyes, but they stayed rigidly spread apart, teasing his exhausted body with their fast blinks. He stared over the pillow instead blankly, but not absentmindedly.

One-by-one the final groups filtered in. Germany flashed his eyes over each of them panickingly, as the people looked up at him helplessly, having no news at all to offer.

"Nothing?" he boomed.

The people startled and threw their gazes down. Russia peered over at him from where he was lying on the ground.

Germany hollered, "You all searched every corner of this house but you found _nothing_?"

Many heads nodded gravely back at him while others stayed silent.

 _Nothing?_ Germany's mind cried again, although his face was contorted in what appeared like anger to the others instead of suffering. _But why? Prussia…. Brother… what happened to you? Where are you? Are you okay? Who hurt you? Who was it that spilled your blood?_

 _I will find out who. And I will get revenge for what they have done._

"Do you think he could have been moved?" Japan offered. "Back to one of the rooms that we have already searched?"

Canada replied, "But everyone was accounted for in the last two nights. We haven't caught any suspicious activities in the logbook, and everyone has been sticking in large groups. It is highly unlikely that a whole group of four or five would work together collaboratively, especially when the groups include people who are not so familiar with each other."

Germany's mind caught onto the word _highly unlikely_ and how it was completely different than _impossible_. However, a different voice rose, saying, "There are still many places left to search."

Estonia had spoken, and he continued, "We haven't explored the yard at all yet. The forest, the cars, the cemetery, and the tomb."

"Tomb…" America trailed off, and then remembered. "Yeah! That little white building in the corner of the cemetery, the one way far out in the field!"

Britain said, "You know, that seems like the place Prussia and Hungary could be."

"Then we will go out and search everywhere," Germany commanded. "My group will be the only one allowed to go near the road however, got it?"

"But Germany-"

Germany snapped his head in Canada's direction.

"Lunch," he reminded him softly.

Germany paused, and realized the people staring expectantly at him.

"Ah, right," he uttered.

The entire time lunch was prepared, given out and eaten, he shifted constantly with impatience. Finally, when his crowd was satisfied, he continued to give out the orders of where each group was supposed to go. According to Romania, this property contained a huge plot of land that included the large cemetery in the back and then a huge chunk of mixed-wood forest that extended far out beyond it.

"But should all of us go out?" Canada said. "We don't know what is out there."

"But if we all go out," Britain replied, "then wouldn't the extra eyes give us a better chance at finding them?"

"I only mean that because things are escalating, what with the blood and Hungary being grabbed, maybe we shouldn't take the children with us in the search groups."

France said, "Then what will we do with them?"

Canada replied, "I was thinking that we could keep them here, and have at least two people watching over them."

Germany admitted, "It seems like a good idea. After all, it is getting rather dangerous. Alright. Should the children be kept here then?"

Ladonia did not seem impressed that the others were talking so generally about them, and as though they could not understand what was being said. Ladonia threw out a "I'm not helpless or anything!" but even then, he was only given quick glances before Sweden murmured something to him.

Sealand tried too, "But won't we get bored just sitting here all day? Can't we walk around or do something?"

"No. Not alone," Germany muttered.

Sealand protested, "I mean with an adult? Can we at least go to the library instead?"

France said, "But didn't Romania mention that there was a known occurrence of a haunting in there?"

Canada compromised, "Books then. How about we take them to the library just for a few minutes, pick out a bunch of things to read, and then spend the rest of our time here? Would this be alright?"

Germany was a little surprised to find that the question was directed at him. That the person who had been helping drive the efforts of the search parties with him since the beginning was treating him as though he had more authority. He wondered if this was truly how he felt, or if Canada was just trying to be polite and humble instead of commanding what everyone should do.

"I suppose so," Germany said. Then, he noted that it seemed to be decided completely after he had spoken.

"I'll stay with them today," Canada said. "Who else would like to stay?"

"Take Italy," Germany said, took a look around the room before adding, "and Japan."

Canada had not had any preferences on who would be joining him, but then he immediately picked up on how Germany had decided to have two people that he trusted stay with him. He had not allowed a single volunteer to step up.

"Okay then," Canada said softly. "Sealand, Ladonia, Kugelmugel, and Moldova. You can come with us."

Moldova seemed confused, and he cried, "But I'll be alright! Ghosts wouldn't hurt me!"

Romania answered, "These ghosts might be different than anything we have ever encountered before. Go with them. It'll be more fun anyway."

Moldova bobbed his head and then scampered over to where the three micronations were standing by the three assigned guards.

The great line up in front of the logbook again, before everyone broke off. Belarus followed Russia with her eyes as he paced across the room and joined his group by the front door. She looked away as she approached the sheets of paper that served as the logbook, where three new pages were laid on top of the old, filled ones, and the blank extra sheets to be used later. She spotted her name, moved the pencil to the end, before she hesitated with the lead's tip just digging into the surface lightly.

When she had returned to lunch she had forgotten to sign in. She quickly found Romania's name, and she copied down the time, plus a minute, into her own row before she scribbled down the current time beside it. She dropped the pencil down on the table before she glided away on smooth feet. She hoped that no one had noticed that she had not filled it in, but she did not fear this possibility for she could get others to vouch for her if she was confronted.

Britain placed his hand over the lock that had remained turned on its side for nearly two entire days. The metal was cool between his fingers, and he felt a certain strength in just holding this simple item between them. It had been so easy to turn it to a vertical position and release a click from the door. He had been the one to unlock the door and lead everyone into the previously forbidden grounds, and somehow he could not help but marvel at how powerful this made him feel.

He pulled the door towards him, almost backing into many others who had crept closer to the exciting feat. They shuffled out of the way, as the door opened up more of the outside world to them, fresh air that they have not felt in days creeping in little-by-little for every centimetre the door moved. Those in direct line with the exit got a wonderful gust of chilly air blown over them, ruffling through their hair with gentle fingers while whispering past their ears that they would be safe out there. There was a sudden and dire need to be outside. They could see no reason to fear the outside, but they had every reason to fear the inside. The mansion was the only place at this time that they could see as imprisoning, terrifying, and bloody.

The moss and grass they jogged across was soft and squishy. It was relaxing and as harmless as a child's toy, with all the edges smoothed off it. Once they were outside, they stopped jogging and for the moment, stepped on the moss with a little bounce in their step, finding just the slightest, desirable relief in doing this. Russia touched one of the heavy rocks, a huge one that came up to the same height as his waist, and he ran his palm over the green softness of the moss that felt like a shaggy carpet over the rock.

Many of the people turned their heads and stared down the gravelly path that led to the road around 500 metres away. They did not hold lustful eyes indicating minds pondering nothing but escape, however, they looked at the dirty road dreamily, as though it was an ungraspable hallucination, like a mirage of water pulling away under a blazing sun no matter how close one could try to get to it. The people understood that they could not pursue the freedom of that road. To step off the property meant death for at least one person, and even if the desire to run out of fear and self-preservation, the wrath of the others, notably Germany, was something that no one could truly escape from.

Russia strode after Germany when he had started to lead their group down the path with America up right beside him. He left the soft comfort of that rock behind, his fingers stretched out behind him and trailing over it as he enjoyed just that final touch.

The other groups took their leave. Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein's group with the addition of Britain and France, and Romania's group stayed in the front yard to sweep around to their respective left and right. The rest followed along the mansion's eroded walls to arrive into the backyard, the bulk of the property, where they would spread out through the cemetery before being consumed by the forest. They drifted away from the mansion, for unease crept through them at being too close to the dark windows, where they could see into the rooms and chance catching sight of _something_ in there, that may or may not come and press its shadowy face and hands against the window beside them. In general, they all turned their heads and ignored the windows, instead just focusing in front of them until they had reached the back and could now break away from the mansion.

There seemed to be nothing off about the cemetery when the new arrivals took their initial steps into a world surrounded by death. The tombstones beside them of varying heights and shapes were old and smooth, with long grass kissing their stone bottoms and little buds of happy dandelions speckling the ground around them. On some newer graves were metal plates with clear names cut into them, and when they were read, the names were so unfamiliar that it was hard to connect them to death at all. It was hard to image the hundreds of coffins filled with skeletons smiling up at them as the groups stepped unintentionally over their graves. All they could do was walk around with fuzzy, disconnected brains, feel the sun trying to warm their cold skin through their thin costumes, and see only low hills filled with meaningless stones.

Sweden, Denmark, and Finland followed the group of five made up of Portugal, Spain, Romano, Iceland, and Norway while the final two groups split off to the sides. China's and Lithuania's group did not look back at them, and they only drifted further and further away. The remaining two groups who watched their backs growing increasingly smaller realized that now that they were out of the mansion, they would all be spread out much further from each other and unlikely to be able to come to each other's aid if the need came up. Locating each other through the thickness of the forest would be a task in itself.

After many minutes out here, they grew quite cold in the crisp autumn air. Their skin started to feel heavy with numbness, and while they stiffened their muscles to refuse the urge to shiver, they wondered how they would be able to stay out here for those hours until dinner.

Yet somehow they felt warmer at times. Still fuzzy-brained, they only considered this to be from the sun's continued efforts. However, its strength did not fluctuate, for no clouds drifted over it, and no chilling wind decided to meet them today.

The skeletons below continued to grin, as though they were enjoying a joke but they would not share it with the others above just yet.

* * *

Canada's group had found and explored the library the day before, so he was sure on how to get there. This was not the place they had found the blank paper to use, but Romania had set up his printer and computer here, so some stacks of paper were here, still bundled up in their new packages. Only one had been torn open in order to supply the printer with fuel.

Kugelmugel did not start looking for books immediately, but he went to the printer to take an entire unopened package of paper into his arms. Ladonia and Sealand needed a minute to marvel at the size of this place, at the high-stacked walls of books far across this open and wide room. There were stairs heading up to the second level of the library here, as the room was large enough that it was connected to both the first and second floor in the furthermost end of the mansion.

Moldova knew where the different genres of books were located, so he was a great help for the others in order to minimize their time spent here. They stuck close to each other as they headed up the stairs, and they each took their turn finding books without allowing anyone just to split off and do it on their own.

While passing shelves or looking over the children's heads while they searched for some, the adults found some things for themselves to read. By the time they were near the enormous window that filled the room with peaceful sunlight, Sealand had his chin proudly placed over the high stack of books in his arms. He had to turn his body slightly in order to take a look out into the cemetery.

"Oh, there's everybody!" he exclaimed.

Four groups of people had already split off, crossing now over the field with a long distance still between themselves and the forest. The two groups that walked away to the left and right were like lone wolves lanking across a long terrain. Sealand stopped with the others to take a quick look at all of the people they knew now free and traversing the cemetery while the bright sun burned above the scene.

Sealand tapped the glass with his finger as he exclaimed excitedly, "Oh! There's Sweden, and Finland, then the other Nordics, Spain and…"

He appeared confused.

"What group is way back there?" he asked.

The eyes raised up to peer far across the field right by the burial vault. Near the dark pines far away but in the direction that two groups were heading towards, a figure was seen. They all pressed close and crowded against the glass to watch this tall shape leaving the side of the vault and slowly creep into the forest on long, thin legs.

"Who is that?" Japan murmured.

But they knew that the distance did not give that abnormally tall figure that night black colour that stood out boldly among the sunny grass.

"Do they not see it?" Canada's voice trembled.

The tall shadow lurched into the pines, disappearing from sight. The other groups continued to walk towards the burial vault where it had just departed from, heads turned in different directions, and eyes still lazy. It was horrifyingly apparent to the helpless viewers in the library that none of them had seen it.

Italy asked, "What can we do?"

"I don't know," Canada whispered. "They're so far out."

Sealand asked fearfully as he watched the Nordics with Spain, Portugal, and Romano head nearer to the crumbling white building, "Are they going to be alright?"

Japan said, "I believe that they will be. I do not think spirits are so powerful that they can hold a form in the physical world. Perhaps it has already disappeared."

Kugelmugel's voice rose up mystically, "But there might be more."

"They don't know what they're getting into out there!" Canada exclaimed suddenly. He fought with the window, forcing it open after having had splintered the wood. It opened outwards, and he popped out his head and looked at the drop to the ground. There was the spongy ground peppered with stones a few metres below. If he threw himself out right, he felt sure that his body could take the fall.

He threw his foot onto the cracked windowsill, looked down, and then launched himself powerfully forward and out into the free air. For some long moments his heart screamed and the air blew his hair right back so that it pressed against his skull. His eyes bugged out when they saw the rapidly approaching ground. He extended out his arms and spread out his legs in an attempt to coordinate them to hit the grass and not the medium-sized stones here.

His joints burned from flames of pain that shot up his limbs, but he bolted forward like a sprinter exploding off the starting blocks. He pelted over the grass, legs expanding far out and shooting his body over what was becoming a green blur with yellow dots below him. Those legs pounding the ground swiftly ate up the distance between him and the groups far out in the field. He sliced the air with his exposed arms while the loose strips of tanned skin of his Native American outfit whipped up and down. He inhaled the deepest breath he could manage before he bellowed out, "Stop! Don't go any further! Stop!"

His booming voice echoed across the field and could be heard by the spectators still hovering by the window. Every group in the backyard halted and whirled around on their heels in utter surprise.

Estonia watched along with his group as a single person tore through the cemetery towards the two frozen groups.

"Is that… Canada?" Latvia asked hesitantly.

They all stared in confusion, still unsure of that loud voice they had just heard. They wondered if Canada had such an ability to sound like that.

Even the two groups that were being referred to cocked their heads at the person sprinting towards them and hollering.

"Canada?" Finland spoke.

The man slowed as he came nearer, quickly gulping a few breaths in before he breathed out in his now regular and soft voice, "We just saw something in front of you. Did any of you see it?"

Romano looked nervous and he uttered, "Something?"

"It was by the wall of the tomb, and then it walked into the forest," Canada raised his head and pointed with his eyes in the direction. "A shadow that must have been two metres tall. Slow… with long legs and arms."

Spain let out an "ah…" as the eight people looked in the same direction as Canada. They could see nothing now, but the sunny peace felt so corrupted. Now they wondered how they could have forgotten where they were, and this grim reminder took away the calm haze.

"Shit," Romano muttered. "What do we do now?"

"But we have to check over there," Finland said. "We can't just leave!"

"I know," Canada said. "I couldn't come here to stop you. I know Germany would not allow you to ignore an area just because a shadow scared you off. I understand too. If Prussia is hurt or lying around somewhere and perhaps starving, then we must ignore our fears to save him. I just wanted to warn you all, seeing how none of you noticed it at all. Be more careful. Set up a look out system so that someone is assigned to a certain direction. Then you won't miss anything and end up walking into a danger zone."

The groups nodded back at him. The fear had returned to their faces, but they conducted themselves solemnly for they understood their responsibilities. Canada was thanked, and they could do nothing else now but leave it as that.

Canada jogged back alone through the rows of tombstones with his head tilted upwards at the window he had left high above. As he came closer to this window with the five people leaning out to him, Italy called out, "We'll meet you at the front!"

Canada nodded up at them before he started his trek around the mansion's walls.

* * *

"This doesn't look good," Portugal uttered, briefly stroking a hand across the side of his head to feel the somewhat shaggy texture of his hair. He touched over his short ponytail as he cast his vibrant green eyes at Spain. Green eyes met him back, then Spain shook his head helplessly.

"We'll do it," Spain said as he slipped out the flashlight that had been swallowed halfway by his pocket up to this point. It had been given to him as their group had been assigned here by Germany. They had only been given one, for out of the three they had had in the beginning, they only had this one now. The other two lay on the floor in the cellar, forgotten but now likely burned out by the time they had been remembered.

They looked over the front of the tomb that they currently stood but a few metres from. Up close, they could see the chipped stones that glowed white under the sun but were stained here and there by unidentifiable murky drips. There was a single lopsided step to the black door that had a cross carved deep into the stone above it, and nothing more to detail this small, decaying building.

"It's too small for all of us to go in," Iceland sighed. "Maybe just some of us should go in."

Spain cut Romano off before he could take up this offer.

"Come on Roma-"

Romano growled, "Oh no. I'm not going in a tiny, dark house full of bodies!"

"We'll just run out if anything happens." Spain dipped his head as he clasped a hand on his shoulder. "And we'll be right beside you. Now is the time to be brave, Romano. I know you can be, because in a time like now, we really need everyone to be."

Romano looked into his fully serious eyes, his own growing wide as he soaked up his words. He gave the slightest of nods, mouth partially open as if his body wanted to protest against this for him, but his mind had commanded it to stop. Inspiration had infected him, and he felt an uplifting energy unfamiliar to him.

 _I'll be strong_ , he decided. _I can be just as strong as anybody. I'll show those damn ghosts that I'm not scared of them!_

"I am not scared," Norway said softly, "But I'll stand guard outside and shout if I see anything heading our way."

"I'll do it too," Portugal said.

"Then it's settled," Spain said. "I'll take the lead, and let's leave the door open. We'll at least get more light that way."

He gripped the flashlight in one hand and then took the jet-black door handle in the other. Romano came up close behind him, gulping as he watched Spain press down and pull the door open towards them. The sunlight crawled up the dusty floor of the tomb, and they got a quick sight of large spiders dashing away as they retreated into the heavy wall of blackness.

An odd scent drifted out from the tomb. It was a dry, dusty scent that carried something a little heavier in it that made their stomachs feel heavy and swollen when they could taste just a bit of that air. It was a scent of something old with a dark tang to it, but discrete in the way that it was not strong. The tomb that had been closed for an unknown amount of time had been able to hold the air trapped within it, but now the unmistakable odor of death sighed outwards.

Feet stepped onto the patch of sunlight within the tomb. Spain paused for a moment to press down the button on the flashlight with a click. The powerful light beamed in the direction it was pointed, to Spain's direct right in the wall of darkness. The light burst over the gaping mouth of a skull that was tilted towards him and staring hollowly back at him.

Romano jumped into Spain and Iceland went stalk-still. Together, the three stared at the thick cobweb nest that filled an entire eye cavity. Spain swung the flashlight to the side, illuminating another skeleton relaxing and stretched out over its stone bed situated in the wall. The light crept upwards, finding another rectangular hole in the wall where a skeleton was lying above. Spain swung the light to their left sharply, and another skull grinned at them, and Romano jumped away again for his hand had nearly been close enough to brush against its dirty white surface.

Romano gazed at its disconnected arm bones and found that the courage he had tried to summon just a minute ago had truly been nothing more than a façade. In a snap of the fingers, his insides had turned to mush and he began to tremble.

"Get me out of here," he breathed out in a waver while backing up into Iceland. The Nordic furrowed his eyebrows and placed his hands on his back.

"They're just skeletons. They don't do anything," Iceland muttered. "I'm more concerned actually about if the others are going to start screaming about that shadow Canada mentioned sprinting our way."

Spain agreed quietly to this while Romano said nothing but had stopped trying to slip past Iceland out the exit. Spain lifted the flashlight dead ahead, sweeping to the back over more stacked slots in the wall full of skeletons, and then over two large stone coffins lying closed tight side-by-side. There did not seem to be much to hide in this small tomb, but Spain felt that if anything could be hidden, it would be behind those stone coffins.

He led the other two deeper into the tomb, where they became utterly surrounded by skeletons completely invisible in the black on either side of them. Romano felt his blood growing hot as he flashed his head from side-to-side, trying to pierce through the dark and find the skeletons that for all he knew, were turning their vacant gazes over at them at that moment. However, he could see nothing at all, thus his anxiousness only grew drastically as the dark closed around them and the patch of sunlight was uncomfortably far behind them.

He knew that with the adrenaline pulsing through him, his blood was also going to flood to the muscles crucial for escape. Nevertheless he felt that this alone could not be the cause for the intense cold that had started to press in around him.

"Do you feel that?" Romano instantly asked. "It got colder, didn't it?"

"Just a bit," Spain said. "But try not to worry, Romano. We are just in a cold stone building now out of the sun."

He was certain though, that the air was dropping rapidly in degrees. Something was sucking up all the warmth and starting to steal away his, stripping it from his skin like it was the peel of an orange. He clutched his hands over his upper arms and held himself tightly.

Spain heard Romano chattering his teeth, so he uttered, "Romano, I know you can be brave. Stop shaking."

Romano clenched his teeth but could not stop trembling. He desperately wanted to know what was happening on either side of him, and he wanted to know _now_.

"Shine your light over here for a second," Romano said. "Just quickly, then I'll feel better."

Spain turned and moved his arm. The circle of light passed over the resting skeletons to their sides that still lay placidly in their spots. After temporarily satisfying Romano, he led them a few more steps further. The open door with its visible patch of grassy field seemed ever more distant.

Spain paused again and said to Romano, "Come on, you said you'd be fine. Don't moan like that."

"What do you mean? I didn't make a sound."

Spain's eyes whipped open and he spun around, hurling the light upon everything around them. Stone. Skeleton. Stone. Skeleton. Nothing seemed out of place. They all however, strained their ears to pick up the slightest sound.

A dragging glide over the floor behind Romano. He inhaled before exclaiming, "You! Did you just move?"

The one addressed, Iceland, replied, "Yes. I just took a step."

Spain shushed them. They listened with absolute focus as they stared around at the blackness surrounding them. The building was disturbingly silent for a few long seconds, and their breathing was loud and unsettling in itself. Very slowly then, like a tendril reaching out for them, a whisper made it to all of their ears.

At first, it might have been plausible that Norway or Portugal were speaking just outside, but then another voice joined in, and then a third. They spoke so quietly, as though the words were breathed out through barely parted lips. Each one varied in tone; one slightly higher, two lower. Another distinguishable voice joined in, and like the others, it tended to drop and trail off lowly at the end of its incoherent sentences.

Romano gasped out, "Where the hell are they coming from?"

Spain swept the flashlight around. It paused on the skull of a skeleton. After a moment of regarding its absolutely still face, he stepped closer to it.

Iceland was taunt in his muscles, and his voice quivering with stress as he asked, "What are you doing?"

Spain approached the wall and bent his knees slightly so that he was face-to-face with the skeleton. From the darkness behind him, more whispers seeped out. He turned his head slightly and leaned towards the skull with its unhinged jaw.

Black tooth sockets centimetres from his ear, and wide empty eyes stared upwards at its ceiling of rock. A faint breath of cold air tickled his skin, and along with it came a long sigh, a very quiet, " _Uuuuuhh…_ "

Spain scrambled away and flashed huge eyes at the other two.

"The whispers are coming from the skeletons," he pulled the words out through his dry throat.

Romano cried, "Out now! Let me out!"

He forgot how close Iceland had been to him, and he crashed promptly into him. The momentum made him stumble, so Iceland tripped and fell backwards with Romano falling over him. Iceland bitterly muttered and pushed him off to the side, and Romano inhaled sharply when his back touched against a stone coffin. He leapt away from it and shivered back by Spain again.

"Why are you just standing there?" Romano asked with a whimper. "We need to get out of this place."

"There's one more place to check," Spain said. "I have to look behind those coffins. Leave if you want to, but I won't."

Romano wanted to protest, swear and cry while grabbing Spain's arm and dragging him away towards the exit. All he could do however, was shrink into himself and bite his lip while staying faithfully beside him. His courage had long since left him, but he refused to leave Spain alone. Extra resilience was forced up from within him, although he would have thought this to be impossible.

Spain lifted his foot, and one-by-one, the voices dropped away. The silence was returned to them. They blinked in bewilderment, and were uneasy by the sudden change.

A very slow sliding noise was emitted.

"Who moved?" Romano demanded.

"Not me," Iceland murmured.

"It was in front of me. Spain? Tell me it was you, you bastard."

Spain swallowed, "It came from in front of me."

Another slow sliding sound. Something smooth dragging over dust. Spain flicked his wrist side-to-side, but captured nothing.

The sound again, long and drawn out. Spain lifted his flashlight over and upwards, stopping by the wall in the darkness to his front and over to the left. The light stopped in one of the holes in the wall where a skeleton lay stretched out with its head turned and regarding them.

Then, so very slowly, the skull shifted, the sliding sound accompanying it. Its vacant gaze moved closer towards them, until it tipped over the edge and fell. The skull ignored the impact and continued to roll swiftly across the floor towards them.

The tomb exploded with a chorus of screams, and Norway and Portugal raced to the front. Three people bolted outwards one after the other, drunk off fear, and still screaming, although Spain hollered, " _Close the door! Close the door!_ "

The instant Spain was out, Portugal slammed a hand over the door and it banged shut. There was an extra thunk as something hit the door after it had been closed. The three who had escaped the tomb were still fleeing, still shrieking and casting terrified glances behind them. Norway and Portugal had been hurled into a panic, and they raced after them in full fear from the confusion of having no idea as to what had just occurred. Portugal shouted after them his inquiries, but they were beyond capable of answering him.

Every group on this plot of land except for Canada's group who were walled inside, heard the screams as they echoed throughout the forest. Germany's group far away from them, by the road, shot their heads up simultaneously like a herd of startled deer. As they raced back down the path, they heard somewhere close by, the desperate clawing at foliage and through the trees, Switzerland was seen then soon the rest of his group, as they all fought to get out into the open.

The Nordic group burst from the forest and gawked at the group fleeing across the field from where they now stood. They whipped their heads over at the closed burial vault to their right, and then back at the sprinting group. Unsure of what to fear in this area, the three of them rushed after them with wary looks as well being thrown over their shoulders. From one of the distant sides of the field, the Baltic group with Poland gaped at them while Seychelles, Vietnam, and China jogged out from the forest and halted upon catching sight of the group of five sprinting through the tombstones followed by the other group of three.

The five of them reached the mansion first, and here they collapsed over the soft grass where they breathed heavily and trembled. The Nordics were the next to arrive, and they bent over their knees, gulped in a few breaths before Sweden asked, "What happened?"

Romano blubbered between breaths, "Th-the… whispers an-agh the uh- _ah-ah_ coming from skel-skeletons… then… the skull- arruh… it- moved. Fell…"

Spain flopped his head to the side and said, "The skeleton moved."

Finland cried out, " _Whaaat_?"

Iceland looked up at him and spoke while also catching his breath.

"We heard whispering, and then… er- it stopped suddenly. We… heard a sound, and then we… saw the skull fall. It started to… roll after us."

"...Closed the door," Spain breathed. "It was following us."

Sweden, Denmark, and Finland blinked rapidly and went tense. Denmark's lip twitched, and his voice shook, "That is scary. That is… not good."

The chains over his black-clothed chest rattled as Denmark crossed his arms over them.

Soon after, all of the groups had made it to the front and gathered on the lawn. The group inside had caught sight of the ones in the front yard sprinting down the path, so they were already out in the front, trying to find out the reason for the mass panic.

"Alright," Germany called out. "What's going on?"

It was easy to see which group had been affected, for they were all still quivering and sitting on stones with their arms wrapped tightly around themselves. Germany quickly scanned through the people, noticed that no one seemed to have gone missing, then relaxed slightly. It also appeared that no one had been harmed, so this was a further relief to him.

All together, the three with the haunted faces recounted their story for everyone to hear. All listeners were paralyzed in fear, and as a crow cawed somewhere in the background, they turned to Germany's group expectantly. Germany was well aware of the eyes on him, and again the pressure weighed down upon him.

"We've just started to search," he uttered. "We can't afford to call it a day when we have all this sunlight left to use. We can't just give up no matter how scared we get, because it is not like we can just take breaks. If we quit now, something like this will just happen again tomorrow. If we keep wasting the days, we will just run out of food before we can find Prussia, if he is still alive by that time."

Romano hissed, "You're telling us to go _back_?"

"Not back in the tomb," Germany said. "But go back to that area and check out the forest. We have a lot of land to cover."

Portugal muttered, "But something is wandering around back there. Canada saw it from the window and he came down to warn us."

His group and the Nordic-led group nodded.

"But we haven't seen it yet," Sweden grumbled.

Germany looked at Canada.

"And it was…?"

"Sealand was the first to see it," Canada said. "But we all looked out and saw a very tall shadow walk from the tomb and go into the forest. It was not a person. It was completely black and it must have been two metres tall."

Japan and Italy were now nodding along with the children.

Germany weighed his options. He understood the fear of this shadow, and he no longer doubted that it had been supernatural. However, he was still greatly stuck on the option of continuing the search, because he knew that it could not be avoided.

Those eyes upon him were tense, some even narrowed. He could see that they already knew what he wanted to them to do before he had even said it. He could also see in those eyes that they thoroughly disagreed.

 _Why can't they understand?_ he wondered bitterly. _That we have no choice? That I have no choice?_

"I cannot make the problem disappear," he growled. "We're wasting time with all of this fear, running, and cowering. Two of us are missing and time is running out. No more being selfish."

"Is it really selfish to be afraid?" Estonia countered.

Germany narrowed his eyes and replied, "It is."

Jaws dropped and expressions of bafflement and shock took form around him. Such reactions that Germany predicted to come from people who could not understand the reality of the very few options they had before them.

"This is not about any one of us!" he snapped at the irritatingly emotional faces around him. "And it is not about me either! We will not dance around every trouble we encounter and refuse to go near it! Why can't any of you understand how important it is not to run away? The things that are at stake if we do not hurry?"

"Of course we know how important it is," Lithuania said. "But we can't help being afraid. We can't stop ourselves even if we want to. The things that we have encountered… we've never been so helpless. How can we protect ourselves? We fear death and capture, Germany. All we can do is run."

Germany did not know how to argue against this. He wanted to, but the words that rang through his mind latched on with iron hooks and stabbed his brain.

 _Helpless._

 _Death and capture._

 _All we can do is run._

Germany thought, _No, we are not powerless. We cannot be powerless. And Prussia is not dead! He cannot be! I will not run. I will find him. I will get us all out of here._

"Powerless…" Britain hummed.

The eyes turned to him.

"Perhaps not," he said while sliding a look over to Romania. "There might be something we can do."

France asked, "What are you thinking?"

The smallest of grins crossed Britain's face. He was now locking eyes with Romania, as he said, "Conventional means haven't worked, but perhaps we can recover our friends with the help of some black magic."

Romania nodded back at him.

"I do have some things," he said. "It should be enough."

Germany cut in, "Is this a reliable solution?"

"Likely," Britain shrugged. "But shall we give this a try instead?"

It sounded so hopeful and so easy. Before Germany could agree, the other groups were nodding their approval. He was discontented at their enthusiasm to skip the searching that they- in his opinion- were too obviously weak-willed to handle.

"Now what we need is the complete darkness of the night to do this," Britain told them. "We'll have to wait."

"Then we can continue searching until then," Germany said. "We might still find him before sunset."

Instantly the others were displeased and they gave no effort to hide it. However, Germany broadened his shoulders and stood ready to cut short any more protests with harsh, barked words. No one did surprisingly, and they remained unhappily obedient.

The groups departed in their separate ways, apprehensively looking up at the sun still high in the sky.

* * *

The hours passed and no one experienced a break from the anxiety. Every second, every beat of their fast hearts in fact, they expected the peace to break and for a shadow to appear just at their sides. Everywhere they stepped, the odd feeling that was spread all over this forest remained; one that tingled under their skin like ants scrambling under their raised hairs.

The only indication of animal life were the crows calling to each other together from far across the forest. The guttural gurgle of a raven was also heard by some, but besides this, no other birds were heard. No happy songbirds twittered and sang in the branches. No explosion of leaves followed by the sound of scratching claws as a squirrel raced up a tree in terror.

The forest felt unnaturally empty to the point that their presences seemed like a surprise to it. Something that excited the forest to the point where its entire being seemed to watch them, and the group could feel those eyes on them.

"There's another one," Seychelles said.

Broken rib bones pointed upwards like stakes while the other pieces were collapsed in a jumble over the ground. The dirty skull was pressed partway into the ground and was covered partially by fallen leaves, still connected by dry sinews to its twisted neck. The skeleton was collapsed on its side with four long legs sprawled out and horns arching outwards.

They looked down uncertainly at the second deer skeleton that they had found in this area, along with the occasional rodent or bird corpse. Every ten minutes it seemed, they would stumble across a carcass; some bleached white and others with dark bones with streaks of red staining them.

"This is a bad sign," China commented, and they knew that he meant the unsettling amount of animal corpses that they were discovering.

"Definitely," Vietnam murmured.

They took a look up though the foliage at the colours beginning to claw the sky and gouge it with pink wounds. They mutually understood that now was the time they needed to turn back if they were going to make it back before dark.

They made it back into the cemetery as the sun burned vibrantly on the edge of the horizon. Once at the front door, they saw other groups approaching from different directions; dim shapes coming closer hurriedly under the now navy blue sky that was rapidly darkening. They hurried into the refuge that was the warmth of the mansion, where they were surprised to find that they had missed so much.

After signing back in, they immediately slipped under blankets and wrapped themselves up into cocoons. Something was being cooked in the kitchen, so they lay weakly over their makeshift beds while waiting to be given something to fill their hollow stomachs. Britain had disappeared somewhere with Romania and Canada, and so they were left here without anything else to do but rest.

Austria creaked open his eyes when something plopped down beside him. He turned his head over to see Kugelmugel crossing his legs and settling in beside him with a paper over a book on his lap. He felt a little warmth from the comfort that the young Austrian micronation had come to keep him company. He closed his eyes again as he heard a pencil lower down onto the paper and glide over it repeatedly in sweeping arcs.

Soup containing primarily vegetables from the fridge's drawers was completed and served out to all from two large pots. It was mostly comprised of water, but the mass of potato and carrot chunks heavy in the bottom of the single bowl they all received was well appreciated.

People looked up as Romania, Britain, and Canada returned carrying fat duffel bags with them. They set them down to the side for now despite the curious faces observing their every movements, and they took the soups offered to them. Stars pricked the sky, alighting one-by-one, as darkness overtook the world outside the windows. It was finally at this time that Romania and Britain finished and set their bowls down before slowly standing before the many pairs of eyes.

"It's time," Britain uttered.

Swiftly the floor unoccupied by sleeping stationary was fervently worked upon. People spread out and lined up against the walls and watched as Britain drew a large circle in the middle of the room in thick, black chalk. He walked backwards in an odd waddle as he traced over the lines and made them completely solid. Romania was already within this circle, drawing a line that crossed from one end to the other, before spinning on his heels and repeating the process in another direction.

It took a while for these two to be satisfied with their work, but soon a heavily detailed summoning circle covered a huge section on the floor. Little flat disks were placed on the outside ring, and then candles were placed upon them and lit.

Following the directions of the lines, Britain and Romania took objects from the bags and placed them around the room. Bones and stones whose placements seemed random to the viewers who were creeping closer, were understood to be precise. No one dared touched anything, but they came close to the edge of the circle to stare down at the hard lines, spiral and rectangular designs, and center star.

"Alright, we're ready," Britain said, looking over at Germany.

Germany narrowed his eyes down at the circle, but he could not comprehend any of it. He hated this ignorance, that he could not evaluate the reliability of this option. He did not know what could go wrong, but he felt as though there were many things that could be.

"Are you sure that nothing will happen?" he asked.

Britain and Romania nodded.

"Either we can get Prussia to appear, or nothing will," Britain said. "This spell doesn't always work, and if this land is truly sacred or cursed, then I can't say how this would affect our results."

"In what way could it affect our results?"

A shrug was given to him.

"Nothing too drastic," he replied. "I believe."

Germany wanted to inquire more, but now that Britain was in his area of expertise, he easily gained confidence and was able to capture everyone's attention. He waved them away from the circle, and they immediately followed his command to stay back against the wall.

Everyone hushed on their own. The sound of Romania's feet on the hardwood floor that they had once danced upon seemingly long ago, now clicked ominously and loudly in the heavy silence. In his hands, Romania held a small but thick, yellow-paged book with his fingers already deep between the pages as he flipped through them.

"Here we go," Romania murmured as he landed on the right page.

They looked down at it together. Nobody else moved. Hardly anyone dared to breath. They watched the candles steadily glowing as a slight wind whispered outside the window.

They spoke so lowly and quietly at first, in time with each other as they stared down side-by-side over the book. Latin words crept from their mouths, dark and with an old mystical feeling in them, as though they were not truly being said by these two, but instead by people who lived in an unrecorded time. Those who had been in the tomb today could only compare these quiet, haunting voices to those they had heard from the old skeletons encased in cobwebs.

The wide eyes noted the first candle to flicker. Their muscles stiffened and only their eyes moved as they flashed over to the next candle that wavered.

By the time four of the previous still candles were blowing wildly back and forth, Germany's heart picked up in excitement. _Could this work? Could this actually… bring him back to me?_

The ring of candles danced spastically, threatening to blow out completely. Britain and Romania ignored the happenings, glaring at the book in utter concentration and raising their voices gradually. Their chant grew powerful, every word impactful and striking the ears of the listeners. Faster, louder, the candles danced and a dark mist started to rise upwards from the lines of the circle. A faint white glow appeared under the thickening fog, and the watchers began shivering in anxious expectation.

The pair shouted one last final word together, and the flames of the candles burned out in the blink of the eye and all were now completely lifeless. The circle's lines released a hot, intense and final light before their power died and disappeared entirely. The fog dispersed, and from this lifeless circle, a dark mass began to rise from the center through the star. A black head with the form of a skull poked through the floor and all mouths gaped as it rose higher and higher, a tall and lean body ascending to a height of two metres.

Its body was of the purest, night black. It loomed above them all, standing still in the circle with a slight slouch while it allowed long arms to dangle at its sides. Abnormally long stick legs bent slightly as it took a slow step forward.

Two orbs of light locked onto the two people closest to it as it languidly titled its face towards them. It took another step forward. Britain and Romania stared fearfully at the outer ring of the circle. A very quiet, bone-chilling exhale was emitted from the towering shadow as it raised its black foot and set it over the line, stepping out from the circle that had been meant to hold it in.

Romania croaked, "Oh my-"

The lights briefly flickered, and then the mansion fell into total darkness as the power went out.


	5. Strands of Impossibility

_After all we aren't savages really and being rescued isn't a game._

* * *

The air crackled with the cleanest screams that demonstrated nothing but intense fear. Never had they encountered such terror, and once blackness stole everything away from them, there was nothing left for them to do but give into insane panic. Their minds were gone, and they bolted blindly in every direction, trying to escape the room so desperately. People smashed into each other and collapsed into shrieking and flailing messes on the floor, crawling to their feet and springing away. Heads whipped back and forth, frantically searching for a safe place although nothing could be seen in the scramble.

They looked out for signs of the thing. Perhaps there was a darker form among the blackness, with two glowing eyes floating around high above. They could find no sign of it however, and they had no idea where in the room it was, how close it was to them, and if one of the bloodcurdling screams sounding out now was more than just fear, but something from a writhing, pained body.

The second before the power had gone out, Britain and Romania had been only a metre from the towering shadow. In the final moment of light, it had been inclining towards them, its black mandible opening to reveal the inky black within. The unblinking, white eyes had been directed at them, as the head slowly tilted to the side while its bony neck craned forward. Freezing cold overtook them, and after the flicker of the lights, a raspy moan crept forth. They could see nothing but the eyes as they hurried backwards, which floated forward while carried by a currently invisible, black body.

The two of them began screaming at it, scrambling for useful Latin words that would have some effect against it. The shadow only continued to advance fluidly towards them. They coughed in fear when the hard wall met their backs and the eyes came closer. Nothing they said seemed to be working, and the two of them slid down the wall as the head sunk down closer to them as it leaned forward.

Britain whispered hoarsely, "What the hell are you?"

Cold breath touched his skin and a horrible moan escaped from the mouth centimetres from him. He and Romania snapped into action, springing off the floor and parting in different directions. Romania stumbled to his feet and threw a look over his shoulder, but he could no longer see the eyes. The creature must have had its back turned to him, meaning that it likely had chosen to pursue Britain.

Romania gasped and raced back, desperately wanting to find the other. He stared around himself helplessly, seeing nothing at all while screams continued to rise up around him. He felt so disoriented, completely lost and having no idea as to where Britain or the shadow could possibly be right now. As far as he was aware, they could have been right beside him or completely across the room.

"Britain!" he hollered over the shrieks of terror and pounding footsteps of the others.

Something crashed into his legs and then latched on. Romania yelped and tried to shake it off, but it emitted a cry of pain when struck.

"Brother, you're okay!" Moldova gasped. "But what's happening? What do we do?"

A light snapped on and pierced through the darkness, reflecting off the pale, terrified faces. Whoever it shown upon froze and gawked back, frozen like deer in front of headlights. The flashlight swung around the room, allowing all to see the sections it illuminated. Promptly, a few hurried to Spain's side from various directions for the protection of sight.

Germany saw the light burst through the black and end the screaming of some. He had been one of the first ones to escape the dance floor, and he was one of the furthest away for he had successfully pelted straight out without crashing into others and getting trampled over. He had immediately reached the wall where he had felt along until he had located cold windows, then the door.

He now stood guard in front of it, and before the flashlight had flicked on, he had heard the fleeing footsteps of others dashing into the room. He heard pounding up the stairs, and a smash somewhere in the kitchen as someone blindly barreled into the fridge. He had heard footsteps sprinting towards him, and just before they bowled into him, he snatched onto them, clasping onto thin shoulders of someone small that he could not see.

 _No one is leaving._

He pulled their body close to him and drove his knee powerfully into their gut, and they emitted a squeak before he tossed their body out somewhere into the middle of the room. He did not know who it had been, but he was sure that this person must be curled up in pain from the attack.

There was a deep throb within, making his organs feel bruised. Latvia felt like he was on the verge of vomiting, although his tears were still only from the fear. He had no knowledge about what had just happened, who had just purposefully attacked him, and until he had landed on the blankets, he had been absolutely confused upon his whereabouts.

Latvia saw the light shine into this part of the room and cut over a section of the sleeping area. The light jogged closer, and it turned slightly to be able to capture the tensed guard at the door. Germany was revealed, and his face contorted in fury as he was approached by a group of people. Latvia felt something plunge into his already heavy gut. He saw something frightening before him; someone with a dangerous light in his eyes.

"Outside!" Spain yelled. "Please, let us outside!"

"No!" Germany roared.

"Not to run- just let us out of the house!" Portugal shouted.

Someone had jogged too close, and Germany felt the need to react. He hardly realized who it was, and he shot out his leg while simultaneously shoving them on the back. Switzerland smashed onto his face before thrusting himself upwards and hopping to his feet. He bared his teeth as blood trickled from one of his nostrils. His nails dug into the skin of his palms as he clenched his hands into fists and snarled, "Who says we have to listen to you?"

He lunged at Germany in an utter breach of his neutrality. Thick hands grabbed at him, pulling and accidentally scratching his flesh. Switzerland only fought him back viciously. Elbows and fists whipped out and then hands grasped around Germany's thick arms as he tried holding them back. Switzerland's eyes locked onto that door handle, and he grappled him while desperately trying to push forward to reach it.

His mind raced; all he could think about was getting himself and Liechtenstein out of this dark room where they were trapped with a dark creature. His heart pounded erratically as he imagined that with every wasted second that Germany was holding him off, the shadow was racing towards them, glowing eyes flying across the room. His hairs were raised while his eyes were huge and white. He could hardly think of anything else but that skull-faced shadow and the chilling moan that still echoed in his ears, although he was unsure if it was merely a replay or if he was really hearing it.

Germany snatched him by the collar and brought back his fist, but a panicked, brutal screeching erupted and snapped his blurry mind back into the consciousness. He released Switzerland as Spain's flashlight whirled around and cut across the room towards the stairs. The light paused over Latvia, then America and Canada as they bolted towards them, and then the light rapidly raced up the stairs until bright stars glimmered off a thick crimson that stained the polished wood of the uncarpeted part of the stairs. Blood that painted the railing in such a thick layer that it dripped down the pillars.

The panic was destroyed into jagged shards as Germany boomed, " _No!_ "

He pelted towards the staircase with the group racing after him.

 _No, no, no!_

He and the others threw themselves over the table and pounded upwards. The flashlight beamed just ahead of them and illuminated it all. There was a red hand print smeared over the carpet and a heavy puddle beside it poured over the edge to stain the stair below. As they went further upwards, Germany's mind screeched, _No, we can't be too late! We aren't!_

More hand prints and long smears where fingers dragged over the carpet were encountered. All backwards facing; resistance to being pulled swiftly up the stairs. At the top, the amount of blood increased to become a large path of red that stretched around the corner and continued down the hall. The screams had long since ended, and the second floor fell into a disturbing silence.

They followed the blood that turned sharply into a random room on the left. The flashlight attacked the floor rapidly with burning light, flashing a spotlight over patches and smears of blood that covered the floor from a struggle they must have just missed. Every flick of his wrist, they expected to find the crumpled body. Every metre of floor covered, the anxiety increased only drastically. The light cut through the darkness, searching, finding the corners, covering the walls, but no matter where they looked, they found blood and nothing.

"No!" Germany hollered. "Who is it? Who got taken?"

He bolted away from the room, stumbling down the stairs in the blackness ahead of the rest. He slipped over the edge of the stair and would have tripped forwards if he had not caught hold of the railing. Warm stickiness touched his palms and he leapt away, running down the stairs again while still shouting the question hot in his mouth, "Who's missing? Who's missing?"

The flashlight fell from the top of the stairs and shone in front of the table. Many people were already gathered there, clinging to the tablecloth nervously as Germany and five others rushed down towards them. After hearing the yell, the mindless panic dispersed and they all huddled helplessly together. They squeezed in tight, crying in fear while they bled over the fresh bruises which had occurred during the blind scramble. They did not know what to do with themselves. They felt twisted, weak, and hopeless, so they looked up at the yelling man with eyes begging for help. They wanted so much for someone who did not scream to save them from this situation. They needed another emotion in their presence that was different than fear.

"Group roll call!" Germany yelled. "We have a victim and a culprit. Who is unaccounted for?"

He called upon the Nordics first. Five shouts, with three of them coming from those hidden in the darkness, returned to him. The children were also here. Switzerland, Spain, France, Liechtenstein, and Portugal were beside him.

"Canada and America! Are you still here?"

They called back to him.

"Britain?"

Someone lurched into the center of the light. His blonde hair was messy with blood and what appeared as four burn marks swiped across his face from his left temple to the end of his right jaw. There were other red marks on his throat and wrists, where through the scorch marks the skin tore outwards and had cuts welling with dark blood.

He rasped, "Here."

He was stared at in shock by the others, and from the stairs France breathed, " _Mon dieu_ , what happened to you?"

"It's gone now," he uttered his reply. "I took care of it."

They watched a darker stain spreading over the black clothes over his stomach. He seemed to be unaware of it until the first person, China, reached his side. He turned his head and regarded China in the eyes as the other's hand slipped onto his lower back. He was trembling unconsciously, with his face pale while sweat glimmered on his forehead. His eyelids locked away his green gaze, and he leaned into the support.

Eyes of concern peered into the spotlight at Britain. The old fear faded as they heard the gratifying news that the shadow was gone and was not currently slinking towards them through the darkness. What was left however, was the new fear that was familiar: the one where a person had been snatched from them and the culprit seemed to be one of their own.

"Austria?"

Austria froze, unsure for a moment if someone was casting suspicion upon him. Recovering, he uttered confirmation of his presence.

It was then that Germany perked as he remembered someone who he was surprised he had not immediately called for. The one that America had seemed lenient to not trust, and had been spreading his suspicions to the other leaders since the beginning.

Germany muttered lowly, "Russia, are you here?"

"Da."

He quickly tried to recall who else was here at the party. He could see both North and South Italy together, and Japan by Britain and China under the light. His mind scrambled, until it pulled out from its depths Romania, Bulgaria, and Moldova. All of which were revealed to be here.

He became stuck on names, so then a few threw out their voices to confirm that they were here, fearful that they would soon be suspected. Germany heard the Baltics announce themselves, and when Poland's voice rose, Germany was surprised that he had forgotten about the country who in fact, neighbored him. His eyes became unfocused as a weird fuzzy feeling overtook him.

He felt like he was disconnecting from his body. He blinked and stared down at the visible people, but in his mind he could only see the image of Hungary's infuriated face with her mouth snapping at him. He remembered her slightly tangled hair, the paleness of her face, and even the green of her eyes. He could still see her clear in his mind.

He then felt his heart thud heavily. He tried imagining Prussia, but his mind struggled to pull together the clouds of his memory that were drifting apart. He could hear his laugh, but he wondered why it was that his face was blank in his memories. He had seen him just two days ago, but stress griped his heart and squeezed it unmercifully as he struggled to recall the shape of his jaw, nose, and eye ridges. He tried desperately to recall the colours that had made up his irises. He knew that they contained wonderful pinks with a smidge of purple; he could remember the hard facts.

He had merely lost the ability to see it.

 _Why am I forgetting?_

For a moment, he questioned the carpet under his feet, the darkness that swallowed up the people, and the bright, single light that cut through it all. Everything felt so strangely unreal. Finally, he lifted his hands. Over his knuckles, there were red marks from where he had struck Switzerland.

 _What have I done?_ his mind whispered. He remembered blankly slamming him to the ground before he had even known who it was. How before, he had snatched someone else, kneed them harshly and then cast them away to suffer through the pain alone in the darkness. He had not even seen their face. He did not know who he had hurt, and as this realization hit him, he realized that he had been hurting others in different ways. He had wounded Austria and Hungary's dignity when he had accused them, and he was unhealthily stressing others when he commanded them to endanger themselves.

 _But they are necessary,_ he thought. _I have to hurt people. Someone has to be strong and do these things no matter how one will feel. I need to see Prussia again, and I have to take charge and do it. I may make mistakes, but it is better to try than to let everything fade away._

The haze did not disappear; rather it seemed to intensify as he justified his actions. He turned his hands, and saw the blood from the railing smeared over them. He could hardly feel it there, as though he was dreaming and that he did not exist in this place.

"Germany?"

He tiredly glanced up. It was Romania who had spoken.

He continued, "I'm going to get the power back on."

"Yes... that would be a great help," he nodded. "How will you accomplish this?"

"I'm going into the cellar," he said. "But I'll need a flashlight. You'll all have to stay here in the dark for a few minutes."

 _What other choice is there?_ Germany thought.

"Very well," he said. He gave a nod to Romania, who then walked around the table and collected the flashlight from off the floor.

No one else seemed keen on entering the cellar where shadow hands had taken Hungary. If the thick darkness had stolen her, then the darkness that now filled the entire cellar perhaps had the ability to take any who entered it, so none had the courage to go. Romania shone the light around the room first, and Germany took advantage of this to note the people gathered here. Romania however, found Bulgaria.

"Will you come with me?" he asked.

Bulgaria could not meet his gaze. He nodded, but his culture quirk had a different meaning for this, so he was signaling a "no". He murmured an accompanying, "I'm sorry."

Romania turned from him and looked around the room, flashing light over the standing bodies that turned slightly away from him when illuminated.

"Someone," Romania whispered. "Someone needs to help me turn on the power."

There were footsteps behind him. He turned, and into the light stepped Sweden and Denmark. They looked as spent as everyone else, with stretched-out eyes and pale skin, but from their stiff muscles and broad-shouldered walk forward, it could be seen that some courage was still within them. No words needed to be said. Romania turned and went onwards to the kitchen with the two Nordics trailing him.

The light floated away from them and went around the corner. The remaining crowd took a moment to watch it faintly glow out from the kitchen, until a door swung open and the light disappeared along with the accompanying sound of feet on wooden stairs.

Germany promptly continued, "Alright. Who else? Seychelles?"

"Yes."

"Vietnam?"

"Here."

Germany sorted through his mind again, _Nordics are here. America, Canada, France, and Britain are here. We have all three Baltics, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, and the children. Austria's group minus Hungary, all the Asian countries… then who…?_

Then it hit him that he had forgotten some of the Slavic nations.

"Ukraine and Belarus?"

Ukraine's voice floated up, and then silence followed. It hit everyone as deeply as it had when they had first called for Prussia and had received no response. This time, Germany did not have to repeat the call for it to sink into everybody. Ukraine wailed when her sister had not responded, clasping her face and beginning to cry while she stood alone and utterly invisible. Her sorrow could be heard, and although few had connections with Belarus, who had been considered unnerving by some, all were sent into a state of anxiety once again. They checked fearfully around themselves, but the wall of darkness still could not be penetrated by their weak eyes.

A click and then they were once again bathed in light. Everything that had been left on shone their calm light over the scene. They could see now that the sleeping area was in entire disarray; the knocked over decorations and the sad balloons dangled on limp ribbons from the ceiling's steamers. Most importantly, all could now clearly see the blood and hand prints that covered the left side of the upper half of the stairs.

Ukraine let out a sob, and she jogged over to the table, her black skirt flapping around her legs. She cleared the table in one leap as Russia broke away to follow her. They froze on the stair of the first hand print, where Ukraine in side profile looked down at it with a sunken face. America peered closer to read Russia's face, but before he could get a good look, Russia sprang up the stairs with Ukraine, heading up to the second floor while following the trail of blood. Germany, America, and Canada rushed after them.

This initiated a curiosity in the others. They could not hold themselves back from coming to see what had occurred, although the gruesome sight would only disturb them greatly. That human urge to know every gory detail was strong here; the same urge that gave passersby the need to look at a car accident to see the red messes being taken into ambulances on stretchers. They jogged up on the clean right side of the stairs, following the others into the room where Ukraine had cried out upon the sight of the bloody struggle.

She staggered into the room, bending forward and stretching out a quivering hand towards the blood. She paused before touching it, wanting so much to feel and see if it was real, but reality crashed down on her hard. She snapped away her hand and slapped it against her face with the other. Ukraine shot up, her spine curling backwards as she sobbed into them towards the ceiling.

She heard Russia step near her, and she threw herself sideways and leaned against him. Her brother did not offer a comforting hand, and the others watched how Russia stood absolutely still. America crept around him and peered at his facial expression. America breathed quietly as he took in the utter blankness over his face, where the muscles remained at rest and the eyes just stared forward. He glanced away from Russia's face and looked across at Canada, who had come around Russia's opposite side to also check his reaction.

The arrivals gawked at the sight of the heavy amount of blood smeared over the floor, surprised as though they had not expected to see this. Each shot away from the doorway and swiftly paced away after having been petrified for a few moments upon the initial sight. They all made their way one-by-one down the stairs and returned to their sleeping areas where they occupied themselves by fixing their spots then immediately curling up in shocked balls.

After a while of the crying and staring, Ukraine and Russia were ushered out of the room by Canada. Those two slipped away without a response, as though they had wanted to leave the entire time but could not until someone had given them permission. They headed down the stairs in front of the others, and the three behind them already began pondering over what had happened aloud.

"But Britain said that he got the shadow out of here," America said. "So that means a person did this!"

Those waiting among the blankets heard him and stared upwards.

America lifted an empty hand and continued, "I know we did a quick roll call, but it was so dark we don't know who might have slipped in a bit later. We already know that this person is very fast attacking and disappearing."

"But we were right behind them," Canada said. "A person couldn't have just disappeared like that."

"Hungary did!" America exclaimed. "And the other person who did this was just gone too!"

They reached the ground floor, then as they rounded the table, Germany said, "But if you are suggesting that the same method of capture was used on both Hungary and Belarus, then what you are saying is that they are using supernatural means."

"Yeah, man!" America exclaimed. "That's gotta be it! It would explain why no one's been caught missing whenever someone is getting taken! They never left because someone must be controlling the ghosts!"

All listeners blinked rapidly and took on expressions of surprise. Until that point, most of them had been sure upon ghosts being responsible for the disappearances. Only a few had believed the ghost occurrences to be unrelated to the actions of a guilty person. Now that both these possibilities were combined, the result was ultimately a threat that was more dangerous. It was then believed that there was someone hidden among them that was pretending to be going along with everything, showing no evidence of being suspicious. They could make the ghosts appear and take them whenever they wanted to.

Canada asked, "How can we know then which one of us it is?"

Germany said, "It is likely that it is someone who is experienced with dark magic."

"Right!" America said. "So who do we know has connections to the supernatural?"

Romano said, "I'd say those bastards who drew a pentagram on the floor!"

Romania froze as the attention honed in on him. Britain was also stared at, but he was currently being treated by Japan and China, and at the sight of the heavy wounds, they adverted their gazes to regard just Romania.

"No," Romania said. "I've been honest with you all. I told you about the mansion, and I've done everything I could to help. Why would I want to hurt everybody?"

"It is unlikely that if you were responsible that you would have revealed all that information," Germany mused. "But then again, it was only because of your brother that you were forced to say those things. Otherwise, you could have just kept it secret."

"I just didn't want to scare everyone!" Romania exclaimed. "I don't want anyone to suffer! Please- don't you understand that I would never do this?"

Moldova promptly started supporting Romania with teary-eyed pleas. He jumped up and down, clinging to Romania's arm, holding it tight to his chest.

Germany ignored him, sighed and said, "Unfortunately, it looks like we are going to have to consider you a suspect."

Romania immediately started protesting, but Germany cut him off and continued with, "Who else then?"

"Why aren't we suspecting Britain?" Vietnam asked.

America swiftly argued, "Come on, it couldn't have been him. He is one of the good guys! He took down that shadow thing for us!"

She reacted with, "And if it was just an act to divert our suspicion?"

"No way!" America gasped. "Just look at him and tell me _that_ looks like an act!"

Britain's shirt had been taken off and Japan was cooling his burns by pouring water over them from filled cups. China was beside them, busy cutting a white sheet into long shreds. After quickly checking over what was being done, the focus was left upon Britain, notably upon the red that could be seen deep in his body through the cuts.

The red had a captivating charm to it; it was hard for the others to tear their eyes away. America stared at those destroyed hands, the cuts over his fingers and palms, then the oozing orange where the skin had peeled away. He murmured, "He would never do this to us."

"But how did he get rid of it?" Lithuania asked.

Britain rolled his bleeding neck and faced the Baltic with one eye closed under a wounded eyelid. His voice was chalky when he replied, "The portal was never closed. I did the only thing I could think of, so I grabbed it and forced it back through the star."

"Tackled a ghost?" America breathed.

"Yes," he croaked hollowly. "But it was solid. I do not know how it had such a strong form, but it was either extremely powerful, or something a little more than a regular ghost."

As Britain coughed with eyes clenched tight in agony, France said, "How did you see the pentagram?"

"I couldn't," Britain replied. "I knew the general area, so when it started sinking, I knew it was falling. I fought to shove it down. The very moment its eyes were gone, I kicked around to destroy the lines."

France's gaze softened in concern, "Then, those marks…?"

"It burned to touch it," Britain said. "But… I had no choice."

America raised his head and called out through a straight throat, "He is a hero; not a suspect. He hurt himself for our sake, and he fought a demon."

Liechtenstein voiced, "Demon?"

"Perhaps it was," Britain said. "It was bloody warm."

An odd grin broke out over his face. He found humor in the dark way he had cheapened the severity of his wounds, as though he could laugh off the overwhelming pain. _Just a little warm_ , he thought as he watched Japan cover up the black over his chest with cloth.

"Norway has some supernatural friends too, doesn't he?" America murmured.

Denmark burst with fury, "Trolls and such! Nothing to do with dark magic like what we've been messing around with tonight!"

Iceland's eyes glimmered as he affirmed, "He has no part of this. He is mystical, but that is it."

America was surprised by the sudden emotion, and he said, "Whoa, dudes. I didn't mean to accuse him or anything. I was just saying-"

"Why else would you say it?" Denmark growled.

Norway sighed, "Don't make such a big deal out of it. Let me talk for myself."

Norway turned his head and stared at Germany and America with a gaze that seemed more tired than calm. A few seconds of silence followed, and America shrugged and murmured, "Sorry. I didn't mean anything. There's no reason why you would do this."

Romania cried, "What about me? You brush off him and Britain, but you think that I have reason to do this?"

"Well…" Germany said. "I apologize, but it is simply because we do not know you so well. We cannot be certain."

"You're just going to assume that I am a psychopath," Romania muttered. "That I hold a grudge against everyone and I would love to see you all scream and die while I stay here quietly, laughing inside?"

When no one replied to this, he grew angrier and hissed, "So you do think this?"

Germany said, "Er, no…"

"Then what else could you mean in accusing me?" Romania exploded. "Do you even know what you mean when you say that I am a suspect? Because it means exactly this! Do you really think this is me? Even Hungary never would have thought this of me, and she hated me more than the rest of you!"

Moldova had never seen his brother so upset before. He shrunk into himself and looked despairingly at the others. He pressed into his brother's side, who wrapped a comforting arm around him when he had felt his quivering. Those who saw this remembered suddenly how he had earlier been carrying around the child around on his shoulders, smiling when the other laughed, and ruffling his hair affectionately whenever Moldova was being sweet to others. After these memories had played through their minds, they realized that all of this had all only happened the night before Prussia was taken.

 _How good of actors are any of us?_ Germany thought. He recalled Austria's face, and he analyzed Romania now. _If one of us is really hiding something, then they would have had to spend their lives hiding their true selves from us. Otherwise, it would just be inhumane to change like that. Could Austria really hurt Prussia? No… I… Why did I think that?_

It had been so recently that he had felt like his suspicions against his friend had been justified. He felt so confused, and now fierce guilt was stabbing him. He felt that pain even now for how he was accusing Romania. He knew how Hungary had felt about him, and he knew that Romania had been right when he tried to explain that they never had hated each other that much.

He watched Romania's hand that was clasped over his brother's shoulder. Germany knew that he must be wrong, but the confusion only intensified. He had just lost all his suspects, and now he desperately flashed his eyes over every face in the crowd.

 _Who then?_ Faces flew by. _Who could it be? Who would do this?_

Every face he went by, hardly pausing, brushing them off as he named them just as _Who?_ , _Who?_ , and _Who?_

So many; no alibis.

 _Who? Who? Who?_

He passed a crying face, then his eyes stopped on one that was not even looking at him, but merely staring off somewhere away. His repetitive thoughts shattered and suddenly he found clarity. His mind felt like it was solid and clear like a glass core, and the answer that he had locked onto had done this for him.

 _Russia._

He did not realize at first that he had said it aloud. However, the faces turned to him, and a certain understanding washed over them all as their confusion faded as well. Russia blinked, broken from his trance, and he gazed around at the sea of eyes upon him.

"Psychopath that would love to see us all scream and die?" America uttered. "I think we might have our man here."

Russia tilted his head, "America, are you thinking that I want this?"

"Dude, everyone knows that you are messed. You would feel nothing if someone got hurt in front of you."

"No," Russia frowned. "I do not want my friends to be getting hurt unless they are learning lesson. Then it is different."

America said, "Yo, do you even know how terrible what you just said is? You got sick morals, and I am really questioning your definition of 'friend'."

"But America, I said before that I did not do this," Russia said. "I do not want to do this. I want to be going home as well."

"How can we believe you?" America said. "There is no reason for anybody to trust you! You are a creepy ass dude who has hurt people as learning methods. No one knows what's going on in your head. No one knows how you justify the things you do, but you do!"

Russia's eyebrows tried to stitch together. He exhaled choppily, "You are really thinking these things about me?"

"Of course!" he exclaimed and spread out his arms. "Everyone does! That's all everyone thinks of you!"

"Really?" Russia's chest ached. He had never heard something like this said to his face. He gazed around at the unempathetic faces, and the agony tore at him as it was confirmed that this was true. They all thought he was terrifying and something unpredictable to despise. He had seen them as friends, because no one had ever broken this long-running lie to him by telling him the truth.

"Don't act so surprised," America growled. "You must have known. People are afraid of you. No one trusts you."

Russia murmured slowly, "Why?"

"You're a damn sadist."

"No, I'm not-"

"You don't even care that your own sister was taken! You aren't crying or anything- you don't even look sad!"

"I am sad," Russia breezed.

Germany commented, "You don't seem to be. You haven't reacted at all even after you saw the blood."

Austria joined in with, "Maybe it is because he has no reason to worry."

Russia blinked, then slowly turned to him.

Austria narrowed his eyes at him and continued, "Maybe she isn't even gone, so you have nothing to worry about."

Russia's voice dropped as he uttered, "What?"

"It could just be a setup," Austria said. "Because maybe you two are working together."

Before Russia had a chance to respond, Japan mused, "You know, I do remember that at the time that Prussia disappeared, Russia and Belarus were the only ones upstairs at that time."

"I knew it," America said. "You were the one- and your sister is in it too! That's why you don't feel anything!"

Russia cried, "No, no! It is not me who is doing this! My little sister is hurt really badly and I want to find her!"

"No one saw her." Austria drew out his lips into a line. "It is only you who is saying this. For all we know, she is just hiding."

Right after those final words had left Austria's mouth, Russia's eyes could be seen hardening; a cold snap in which the irises of his eyes froze. A spiting face looked back at him, obviously satisfied with the clever irony that had allowed him to use the words Russia had said to him when Hungary had disappeared, right back at him. The current situation made it all the more perfect, and Austria felt some sadness disappear after he had successfully taken the chance to put down Russia.

Russia could not however take this attack lightly. He knew what Austria was doing, and he hated that smug face all the more. He felt obligated to wipe away that look and to replace it with something else. So he stared at him, and the others of the room grew fearful of the absolute coldness in his gaze. They saw remorselessness and murderous intentions; something bordering a confirmation of the accusations.

Russia took a step towards him with no smile present on his face. This was unnatural; people had known that even if Russia was offended or angered, he would have at least have a disturbing smile planted on his face while he voiced threats sweetly. However, now it was like what he had had on his face upon when observing the bloody room upstairs: blankness. His intentions and emotions were hidden away, and he had become fully unpredictable.

Germany boomed, " _Stop right there_!"

Russia froze a few metres from Austria. Germany thumped towards them, and Russia dropped his eyes shut.

"Don't you dare think of touching him," he breathed out, his voice tight with controlled rage. "If you even take one more step towards him, I will take you down."

Russia whispered, "You think that I was going to hurt him?"

"Stand down," Germany growled. "You are not helping your cause at all."

Russia blinked open his eyes. They were still hard, and his facial expression still so blank. His voice wavered slightly as he whispered, "He should know… and I was going to tell him… that what he said hurt a lot. I think I understand his pain."

Austria blinked rapidly and his expression dropped. He still could not understand why Russia's face was like it was, but his voice was choked as though he was on the verge of tears. Austria had not expected this reaction, and now he felt unsure about his actions.

Russia backed away from Germany and made it to Ukraine's side under the scrutiny of many glares. He closed his eyes again and gave a twitch as Ukraine wrapped her arms around him.

Britain broke the momentary silence, "You know, there is something undeniably dark about him. It could be true that he has a connection to black magic."

China jolted in surprise beside him and said, "Really?"

Britain nodded to this and said, "We do not know much about what he does on his own, but I can confirm on two occasions where dark power was demonstrated by him. One of these occurrences was when I had taken down Busby's cursed chair. You all remember that, don't you? The chair that allegedly kills whoever sits in it. Dark magic indeed. However, when Russia sat in it, it didn't kill him. It broke."

America said, "Whoa. So dude, he was more evil than it or something?"

Britain merely continued, "I am also fairly certain that he cursed Japan at some point, but I cannot say how. Yet there is one last chilling piece of evidence I can propose…"

He and Russia were now locking gazes. The blankness of Russia's face was broken by worry, sneaking through his skin to make an appearance.

"On one occurrence I was trying to summon a demon for a little revenge of my own. The demon never came to me, but I seemed to have received something that is perhaps more frightening... I summoned Russia instead."

Everyone gasped at this while a few stared at the smudged summoning circle on the floor. They thought of the shadow figure that had come out of it, and imagined instead Russia appearing from it as he was: in a black and metallic purple demon costume.

Germany uttered, "Do you have anything to say in your defense, Russia?"

Russia nodded, and said simply, "I don't know what is going on."

Germany's eyebrow twitched in impatience and he replied in a harsher tone, "Do you confirm or deny these statements?"

"Cursed chair? Hmm, I do not know about that. It was just chair. I do not know why it broke," he said. "And being summoned? But that wasn't my fault, you are understanding? Britain was making mistake and he took me from my home by accident."

"That's bull!" America hurled out. "Those poor excuses won't help you! We've got you figured out, and your sister too!"

"No…" Russia's eyes widened as the crowd came closer. "I did not…"

He checked over his shoulder and saw that others had blocked off his exit. He was surrounded by grim faces. Germany marched towards him powerfully, looking into his eyes as his mouth pulled out to expose his teeth.

"Get on the ground," he snarled. "Now."

Russia lowered to his knees.

"Lie down!"

Russia cast a fleeting look of fear up at him, and at his hesitation, Germany felt the irresistible urge to lock his hands around his throat. He had begun to move when something flashed between him and Russia to knock away his hands.

"Stop it!" Ukraine cried. "He is innocent!"

"Ukraine," Germany muttered. "I know it is hard for you to accept something like this, but you are going to have to step out of the way."

"No! I won't let you hurt him. He did not do any of this!"

"He is the only one who could have done it."

She cried, "No! He would never! None of us would!"

"He would," America said from the side. "Maybe they left you out of it, but it is true. Belarus and Russia are in on this. Why else wouldn't he react to Belarus's disappearance?"

"No, stop it!" Tears broke over her face. "He is under a lot of stress. Please, just leave him alone! Don't demonize him like this!"

She turned and fell into Russia, holding him and stroking her hand over the side of his head. Russia closed his eyes again and pressed his face against hers.

Canada padded over to Germany and America's side. He looked down at Ukraine and Russia with them, but not with the same solemn face. He murmured to them, "We only have circumstantial evidence still. We still have no right to condemn him."

Germany replied, "We can still protect the others. We might be wrong, but if we are right, then the game is over and we get everyone back."

"How could you know if Russia is doing this and not someone else?" Canada continued. "How far are you willing to go to get an answer?"

"Only what is necessary," he uttered.

"No!" Ukraine twisted her head around and stared at him with eyes stretched wide in horror. "I will not let you hurt him!"

It felt odd for Germany to hear the word "hurt".He wondered if he had truly implied this, and he was surprised to realize that he had. He shook his head quickly, and said, "No, no… of course not. That's not what I…"

 _What did I even mean?_ he thought. _What are the consequences of accusing someone truly?_

He thought of what Romania had said about what crimes someone would be accused of if they were called guilty.

 _Is this something Russia would do?_

Ukraine was firmly against it; plain as the fury and terror glowing in her eyes. She was quite intent on protecting her brother, thus now Germany was unsure once again if what he was doing could be justified. He rubbed a hand over his tired face before sighing, "You can stand up, Russia."

He rose slowly, uncertain if he was truly allowed to. His hands were open and limp, for he seemed to be trying to look as nonthreatening as possible as to not provoke the others around him. America started to argue, but Germany bowed his head and said, "No, Canada's right. We don't know for sure; we're just assuming the answer. We can't do anything."

America exclaimed, "Aren't we even going to tie him up?"

"Too dangerous," Germany said. "That leaves him defenseless to attack. We can keep an extra close eye on him, but we can't touch him. We are going to have to stay focused and not lose our ability to reason. If we are ever going to find the others and get out of here, we have to be serious and logical."

Germany knew that his words were more of a reminder to himself, because he now wondered, _What got into me before?_

The tight ring of people loosened as they dropped back and clustered back in their groups. A few plopped down, exhausted and unsure of what to do with themselves now that no solutions had been proposed. The Nordics sat down with the children, but Denmark rolled his head up and asked, "So, what are we going to do now?"

"We'll have to continue on like before," Germany uttered. "We'll keep searching."

Finland asked, "Do you think that graveyard shadow is going to come back here on its own?"

"Can't say," Romania replied. "We don't really know what it is. It might stay wandering in its area, but we don't know how large its haunting area is either, or if it even has restrictions."

Britain sighed weakly, "But now all of us are fully certain of supernatural presences, so if you will allow it Germany, can we take protective measures?"

The night before, Germany would have not been keen on the idea. He had wanted to provide a logical explanation to every occurrence that had been told to him, and he would have been against using items with "magical" properties. Their presences were physical proof that they had one hundred percent reason to fear ghosts, and Germany did not just want to allow this crowd to succumb to panic. Up until this point it had already been hard enough to control them.

His hands remembered the stickiness. He saw in his mind the dying candles, fog and light, and then a towering, skeleton-like shadow.

He uttered, "Do whatever you think is necessary."

He closed his eyes and felt hot stress overwhelm him. He could hear Romania busy with a duffel bag, pulling out objects and clinking them on the floor. Germany wondered deeply if he had just made a terrible error, or if he could truly protect everyone while simultaneously winning their respect and amity.

The feeling of being burned would not leave Britain even after the tall shadow was forced back to where it had come from. He occasionally hissed through his teeth as he lay on his back with his wounds facing upwards. He felt too weak and stiff to move; all he did was stare upwards at that dazzling chandelier and hope that it would not fall upon them.

The others were busy watching Romania drop a large crystal on the table in front of the stairs. It had a beautiful and comforting soft pink essence with many dull shards spiking out in random directions. It could be identified easily as heartstone; a lump of rose quartz.

"Help me put the other things away," Romania spoke to all, although his back was turned. He was busy placing a large metal dish beside the quartz and taking out a bundle of dried herbs from a plastic bag.

The seemingly professional attitude gave them a burst of energy and hope, so they enthusiastically hopped to their feet to gather the bones, stones, and other odd items that had been used for the summoning. They carried over everything as Romania got a flame feeding at the end of the herb bundle.

"Not that bag," he quickly directed them. "The other one. One is for attracting ghosts, and the other is for preventing them."

Romania bent down and dug through the bag he had stationed at his feet. He retrieved a large horseshoe, carried it in one hand while holding the dish of burning herbs in the other, then he found his way to Sweden.

Romania asked, "There's already a little nail over the door from the last owners. Can you hang this there?"

Sweden made a low sound of approval then took the horseshoe from him. Romania was seen pacing around the room afterwards, murmuring in Romanian as he let the smoke waft over the surfaces.

While he was away, Britain whispered, "Start making a border of salt around this room. He should have a lot in that bag."

Japan went off and searched through the things until he found a large plastic bag filled with white rock salt. He opened it then shoved his hand deep into it to grab a fistful before he began creating a line of salt to cut off this main room from the dark hall on the right.

America had heard Britain's instructions and he asked him, "Dude, does that actually work? I thought that was just a thing from that show-"

"Of course it does," Britain cut in. "It is used to keep negative energy away. If we surround this area, then we can at least have an established safe spot. And you see Romania? He's cleansing the area to get anything out before we accidentally trap something in."

"Cool," America said. "Sounds great! We'll get to sleep well then, right?"

"Right," Britain coughed. "At least there's that."

Romania let a fresh herb bundle burn in the dish in the summoning circle while he returned to his bag. He took out a large brass bell, and he gave it to Moldova, who proceeded to the corners to fill them with the sound of cheerful ringing. The others looked over in curiosity, and watched the little ghost-costumed child bouncing along. He was a picture of innocence that did not seem to belong here, and this brought the others into a more relaxed mood.

The strong acrid tang of the sage hit them, but no complaints were made as it was understood that this was a good happening. Germany returned from the kitchen after having washed his hands, and he sniffed the air unhappily, wondering how burning these leaves could help the situation. To him, it was ridiculous watching someone dance around the room with a bell. Furthermore, he could hardly bear seeing his friend Japan taking part in this, sprinkling seasoning over the carpet. Germany stared at that pink rock, only thinking about its chemical compound and bitterly wondering how all this would help. In truth he was not alone with these judgmental thoughts, but like the others, he felt a hollow feeling of loss after seeing how something had appeared through chalk artwork on the floor.

 _Why does it have to be this way?_ he thought. _It had seemed so much easier before, when it was just searching and determining a culprit._

Romania finished burning the herbs. He walked past Germany to head into the kitchen, then he returned with a string of garlic. He placed it beside the entrance, before turning and watching with approval as Japan laid down the salt.

"Does anyone else have any suggestions?" Romania asked.

China said, "Perhaps we should try to please the ghosts with offerings."

"You think that they are hungry ghosts?" Japan said, applying his knowledge of Buddhism. "But why would that be, if the former residents died peacefully or were murdered?"

"We do not know about the ghosts of the graveyard," China replied. "Maybe there are both good and bad spirits together in this area."

This open discussion was joined in by Ukraine.

"Belarus could see them," she sighed. "She could have told us what they looked like…"

Lithuania said, "Do you think that is why she was targeted tonight? Because she could have been useful to us?"

"I don't know how many of us knew that," Ukraine said. "But it seems that might be why she was taken."

Austria threw in, "Then why Hungary? What was the point in taking her?"

Japan finished his circle of salt around the room then emptied the bag in an effort to strengthen the lines. No one could come up with a response to Austria's question by the time Japan had dropped the empty plastic bag and had sat down among them. As they thought it through however, Romania fished out a box from the duffel bag, popped off the lid, and began untangling the contents.

"There isn't enough for all of us," Romania commented. "I think just ten."

He showed them a pendant with a delicate gold chain and a smooth amethyst gem.

"Who should I give them to?"

France offered, "Perhaps it should be the children who get them?"

Germany approved the noble answer. Moldova took the necklace from Romania, but only went to hand it to Sealand while Romania pulled out another. Sealand clipped the necklace behind his neck so that the chain hung coolly over his skin and the gem rested snug over his sternum. Ladonia was given a bloodstone ring, and a pendant with schorl became camouflaged in the black feathers of Kugelmugel's collar.

Moldova placed a pendant with clear quartz around his neck. Romania counted only four more pieces of jewelry left.

"Those who have the most fear should receive the support," Romania said. "It will give the wearer protection, so they won't feel so helpless."

Britain listened to this and could only think with an internal sarcastic laugh, _But don't we all feel helpless…?_

Germany said, "Then let's be honest. Who here feels that they need one?"

He had expected a forest of hands, but instead not a single person suggested themselves. Germany looked at the black onyx bracelet in Romania's hand, walked over, took it, then approached Austria.

Germany did not fully believe that these gems had any power, but when he stared into Austria's haunted gaze, he firmly said, "It will make you strong."

The other blinked, but the seriousness reached Austria's mind and put a reassuring confidence in it. When Austria stared back at him without reacting, Germany lifted his arm and slipped the bracelet over his wrist. Austria checked it before looking back at Germany as he turned away from him.

The next was a necklace with a smooth piece of white gem that had black veins creeping around it. It had a beautiful chain made of silver, which he clipped around Italy's neck. He lowered his blue gaze and observed the howlite over his thin chest as he recalled Italy's fierce trembling after he had discovered the hand prints on the window.

Germany said to Italy, "You will be brave."

As he turned, he caught sight of Italy's brother. He remembered that although he put up a tough act, Romano was just as frightened as his Northern sibling. Germany then considered that he might be considerably more so after the scare he had received today. Romano did not say anything, but he took the emerald ring passed to him.

Spain gave him a piece of encouragement before Germany could. He murmured, "Everything's going to be alright, Romano."

The final piece of jewelry was a malachite pendant; an intense, deep green stone embraced in silver wire swirls that then connected to a silver chain. Germany searched the room until he caught sight of the person who he noted had not stopped quivering since the note had been found.

Latvia widened his eyes as Germany approached him. The other still did not realize that Latvia had been the one he harmed before, so he did not understand why Latvia's shivering increased slightly when he was approached. Germany just calmly stared back at him, seeing the fear deep in this Baltic's eyes. Germany then thought, _I am responsible for them all_.

He placed the necklace into the cup of Latvia's small hand and murmured, "No more fear. You are safe."

Latvia tilted his head and his shivering calmed as he observed nothing but meaningful kindness from Germany. It was opposite to how he had been acting just a while ago, and it gave Latvia a sense of reassurance. He felt that because Germany had made a personal connection to him, that it was a sort of apology even if it had not been meant to be. He decided then, as he felt the comforting coolness of the gem in his hand, that he could trust Germany again.

Germany could feel the trust for him returning to the others as they watched him pass out the jewelry and give out supporting messages. They took these messages to heart, and they admired Germany for them. The judgmental eyes from this day and the one before were replaced with placid gazes that were thankful that Germany had allowed the establishment of a safe place for them.

 _This makes it easier_ , Germany admitted in his mind. _Whether these stones work or not, at least they feel safe. They will listen to me now, and be more willing to follow my orders. This is very good actually. We can avoid mindless anarchy and get the job done. After all, if I was not here, everything would fall apart and no one would get rescued._

 _I'll keep them all safe until the end. The responsibility is all on me, but I will succeed as usual. I can protect them all._

Everyone seemed to approve this notion, and Germany let out the smallest smile of relief. Some of his stress disappeared, taking with it some of the weight off his shoulders, while simultaneously clearing the rest of the delirious fog from his mind. As he was smiling though, he caught sight of one person who had a face devoid of the hope that was present in everyone else's.

Germany wondered why Russia was staring up at him with concern, and what seemed like fear, in his eyes.


	6. Delicate Crimson Webs

_We did everything adults would do. What went wrong?_

* * *

"Please."

Sweden looked at the small hands stretched out towards him. He looked into Sealand's eyes and saw a pitiful glimmer that squeezed his heart. It hurt to see how the happiness and energy had been taken from the micronation, only to be replaced with anguish and stress, so that his clear blue eyes now sparkled with despondence.

Sealand's voice nearly cracked as his tears threatened to spill.

"Take it," he repeated again to Sweden.

The gold chain of the pendant sank between his palms and the amethyst peered up at Sweden. He stared at it with a frown, his face downcast and serious.

"I want you to be safe," he grumbled.

Sealand raised his hands higher and whined, "Please! I'll be with the others! I'll be fine! You're the one going out into the forest back where the tall shadow was!"

Sweden realized that the shock of seeing the skeleton-like creature enter the mansion and stand before him must have taken a heavy toll on the child's mind. He knelt down in front of Sealand as the first tear raced down his cheek. He allowed the necklace to be clipped behind his neck without a word being said.

After it was done, he stood up to rejoin the other members of his group who were waiting outside. Sealand snatched onto his arm and squeezed out through his tight throat, "You're coming back, aren't you?"

"Of course," Sweden murmured, his tone softer to ease the other. It had the desired effect. Sealand's grip loosened and he backed away to Canada's side.

"Okay," Sealand whispered hoarsely.

Clouds covered the sky today, blocking out the cheerful sun and casting the outside world into a sorrowful mood. Sweden lifted his eyes to the thick ceiling of gray and wondered if rain was going to break through to freeze them more than the cold air already was. The purple gemstone was lifeless without light sparkling off it; it only lay cold over his manubrium. Finland glanced at it as Sweden came to his and Denmark's sides.

They departed with the other groups like they had the day before, circumnavigating the mansion's perimetre before crossing the cemetery and eventually splitting off. The group entirely composed of Nordic members approached the line of pines behind the burial vault. They stared at the black-doored entrance uncomfortably before they looked back ahead and broke through the border between grass and silent forest.

They resumed the lookout system they had established yesterday after receiving Canada's words of advice. Sweden watched their rear, Denmark led them ahead, while Finland waved his head side-to-side to scan their left and right. They passed by the land they had covered before, certain of this once they walked by the familiar wild boar carcass. They continued walking along an old path, and where it split into two directions they chose to turn left instead, although it would eventually lead them into Spain's group's searching area.

None of them attempted to break the silence. It might have relieved some of their anxiety, but each of them felt the dire urge to remain quiet back here. The atmosphere had a tight air that was unlike that of the fifth floor in the mansion. The fifth floor silenced everything and had a suspenseful mood, but here it felt as though something dark was lurking about. They sensed something creeping on soundless feet, and each of them did not deny that what they felt was the presence of that tall shadow somewhere in these woods.

Every movement they made was therefore as muted as possible. Their feet tread carefully over the pine needles and fallen branches, snapping nothing and consciously avoiding to scruff across the ground. Each person breathed softly and slowed their blinking to be less likely to miss something.

Denmark halted without warning. Finland and Sweden stopped then followed the direction Denmark's finger was indicating. Further away, the path ended unexpectedly at the foot of a rotting shed. Its roof sunk down and beside the shed, tiles had fallen to rest in a bed of needles. The wooden sides were in no better shape, and were cracked and stained, with hair-like strands peeling off them. At the front facing the trio, there was a wooden door that was slightly ajar to reveal a crack of darkness within.

They advanced very slowly, each of them wordlessly covering every direction in case a figure would arrive in the trees beside them or come up the path from behind. The peace was never broken however, and they reached the front of the shed. Denmark inhaled deeply while wrapping his hand around the handle. He pulled the door towards him, gradually opening it to prevent the squeaks that threatened to cry out. Denmark backed away with the door in his face, unable to see what was being revealed although the other two standing back could.

The light raced into this small shed, and at first, nothing could been seen except for three red tanks of gasoline placed against the wall. Denmark took a step forward and poked his head in while Sweden quickly checked their backs.

The rest of the shed was surprisingly well-lit from the many holes and cracks in the walls and roof. Denmark blinked. What he saw lying against the wall caught his interest, and he admitted a hushed exclamation of, " _Oh yes_!"

He rounded the corner and disappeared from sight. Sweden and Finland snuck into the shed behind him to promptly behold the mess of tools against the far side of the wall. Denmark was already gathering something in his arms, and he turned to them with his eyebrows lifted high and his eyes wide.

He smiled over the hunting rifle clutched to his chest and said, "This might be useful, right?"

The other two frowned however, and Finland replied, "If it's been out here for so long, I don't think it's any good to use."

"It feels dry," Denmark commented, "and it's in really good condition."

"Too good…" Finland breathed. "It looks new."

Denmark checked its chamber and hissed, "Wow, it's even loaded. What gives?"

In addition to this, they noted the boxes of bullets on the ground.

"There's something suspicious about this," Sweden muttered. "Looks set up."

Against the wall there were tools that appeared as well to be in phenomenal shape despite the condition of the shed they were contained in. Finland stuffed a box of bullets into each of his pockets, before Denmark passed the rifle into his arms to investigate the other objects.

Denmark was immediately attracted to a tool jammed into the corner that stood nearly up to his own height. He wet his lower lip before he took hold of a massive scythe with both of his hands.

"Awesome," he exhaled as he weighed it and compared it to one of the splendid war axes he had used many years before.

Sweden _hmm_ ed as he held the handles of two broken hedge clippers, with one half held in each of his hands. They had large blades that were freshly sharpened, as though they had never been used before. He squeezed the soft grips of the handles, bowed his head and sniffed them. They still had the strong scent of plastic straight from the hardware store.

"I think someone put these here," Sweden uttered.

Finland said, "You think someone wanted us to find these?"

"Mm," he confirmed.

Denmark cut in, "Wha- hold up!"

He placed the scythe against the wall and scrambled to the opposite corner. He slid away a box of tools and brushed away some small garden tools. A square in the wooden floor was revealed, along with a circular metal handle in the center.

While kneeling, he turned and mouthed to them, " _It's a door_!"

Their hearts picked up in hopeful expectation. They were in the middle of the forest, far from the house and just a bit aways from the cemetery. Prussia had yet to be found, but at this moment, this location seemed the most ideal spot to hide him. They felt extreme excitement fulfill them and they began to sweat from the anxiety. Sweden forgot to check behind them as he became focused on the developments before him.

Denmark grasped the handle and grit his teeth as he strained to lift it. It parted from the floor, and he squatted over it to pull up with his leg muscles. The stone slab disconnected from the floor and Denmark pushed it to the side to completely uncover the hole leading straight underground.

The smallest trickle of light entering the shed bled into the hole to show the bottom just over two metres below and a solid dirt wall to the right. Denmark bent over to peek his head into the darkness to the left, but then retreated proclaiming, " _Phew_! It stinks down there!"

"Did you see anything?" Finland asked.

"No, too dark. We need the flashlight."

Sweden asked, "You think they're down there?"

Denmark grimaced and said, "I'm going to be honest... I really hope we don't find them down here. It smells like death."

He held his breath and stuck his head back down the hole. He scanned the darkness, trying to see if he could at least spot any shapes at the end of the tunnel.

" _Hey_ ," he whispered. " _Prussia, Hungary, Belarus… anyone down there_?"

He paused and strained his ears. His head was starting to feel dizzy from holding it upside-down for so long, and he was about to pull up for a few gulps of air. That was however, when he heard a scratching sound on the floor.

" _Hello? If you're down there, say something! It's Denmark, Sweden, and Finland here. We can get you out of there_."

Two yellow lights lit up at the end of the tunnel. Denmark furrowed his eyebrows, looked at them in confusion as the lights crept forward. When Denmark yelped, there was the sound of stone scraping and the lights flew towards him from across the tunnel. He screamed and threw himself away from the hole, momentarily sitting back and helplessly shrieking, " _Close it, close it, close it_!"

Sweden hurried to the stone lid and started sliding it across the floor as the sound of scratching grew louder. Denmark finally sprang to his feet and helped Sweden, and they shoved the slab back over the hole together. It fell in snugly, and for a few seconds all any of them could do was stand there, staring down while a low growl emanated from just under the stone. Fierce scratching accompanied it, sounding as though something was pacing in the tunnel under the ground.

Finland choked, "What was that?"

Denmark whimpered, "I have no idea, but it is _not_ a ghost."

With a quivering hands, he retrieved his scythe from the wall.

"Let's tell everyone else," Denmark's voice wavered. "We should… go."

There was a sigh of wind and then the door slammed shut, enclosing them in nearly complete darkness. The three of them yipped in surprise and raced to the exit. Sweden griped both pieces of hedge clippers tight in his hands as he shot out his foot and smashed the door open. As there was no doorknob or lock of any kind, it easily flew open and crashed against the wall of the shed, spraying wood dust upon impact.

Sweden's eyes stretched far open as the two metre tall shadow inclined towards him. Its murky jaw opened and the white, unblinking orbs neared his face. Freezing air blew over his skin as it loudly emitted a long moan and stepped forward. Sweden hollered and tripped backwards, stumbling then colliding with the back wall as the shadow hunched forward and filled the doorway with its mass. Finland and Denmark screeched and crashed into the rest of the tools with an uproarious, metallic clatter.

The shadow stretched out a long leg and neared Sweden. It reached out gangly arms and abnormally long and thin fingers towards him. Its raspy moans increased as its mouth stretched wider and wider, its jaw seeming to unhinge and hang slack as it leaned over him. Sweden barked and shot his arms forward, the broken blades of the hedge clippers slicing forward like twin swords. The right slashed higher and cut through the neck while the other swiped cleanly through the emaciated stomach. The moan instantly rose into a shriek which lasted for only a second, before the shadow flickered and vanished.

Sweden shouted, " _Run_!"

The other two exploded off their marks and sprinted down the path after him. In the shed, there was another flicker, and then slowly the lanky shadow was pulled back together from tendrils of darkness and two eyes flashed back on. Finland cast a look over his shoulder and cried out as he saw the shadow in hot pursuit. Its long legs stretched out and noiselessly shot it forward, rapidly closing the distance between them.

Tears shot from his eyes. They were so far away from the other groups and from that safe haven. Finland pumped his arms and gasped for breath as his feet blurred below him. Never in his life had he been so afraid; so certain that death was upon him. He did not look forward, and he could only look back as it grew closer every second.

Fifteen metres. Ten meters.

Finland started swearing uncontrollably.

Nine. Eight. Seven.

 _We're never going to make it!_

Six. Five. Four.

He was close to the others, but still in the back of the pack. The shadow reached out to him with its mouth widening again as it moaned.

Three.

Finland cried, " _Perkele! Perkele! Perkele!_ "

Behind him, there was a rasp of, " _Cuueeaaaaaahhhhhrrgggg… eeeneeeahhh!_ "

Two.

" _Oh perkele! Perkele! Perkele!_ "

One.

Finland whipped around and fired right into the protruding shadow ribs in his face. The bullet zipped through it, parting the shadow for a moment before the mist knotted back together. Finland screeched when bony shadow hands snatched him and pulled him roughly forward. Finland crashed onto his stomach but threw himself around just as a black skull raced towards him. He heard the others screaming for him, but he was petrified and helpless, seeing nothing but the white eyes zooming closer.

He went stiff and held his breath as his mind was overcome with flashing images. For a moment he was no longer conscious of anything in this world as another one consumed his mind. He saw behind his eyes black shapes racing among tall trees, whose tops stretched so far up that perhaps they were nonexistent. The shapes had sharp yellow eyes, gnashing fangs, and throats that rumbled with bloodthirsty snarls. Finland's screams echoed out far into the distance, intensifying as he writhed in an attempt to escape the sights.

A tall blur shot forward, and somewhere far away Finland heard for the first time Sweden's screaming. The shadow was knocked away from him as Sweden's arms became a flurry of savage attacks that diced and lacerated the shadow until it separated. His screams had weaved into those of the shadow harmonically, and they ended together in sync as the darkness finally pulled apart and floated away on the air.

Sweden stuffed both pieces of the hedge clippers into one hand so that he could hook an arm under Finland's armpit and hurl him forward and stumbling to his feet. They bolted away, not seeing the shadow back on the path behind them again by the time they had burst from the forest into the cemetery. They were gasping heavily and deep cramps inflicted their sides, but they did not dare stop. They dashed through the tombstones, where they were deliriously imagining skeletons below them rolling frantically in their graves, trying to escape to get to them.

They collapsed by the mansion and flashed their panicked eyes across the field by the burial vault. They peered into the trees, but they saw nothing at all there. Sweden dropped his weapons while the others leaned on theirs, and the tears poured over their faces while their hearts struck their ribs painfully. Finland coughed and cried, his eyes stretched open and boring into the ground. He began to see again the images of what he believed must have been of Hell; the things that the shadow had shown him.

They faded away when he heard Sweden close to him, asking, "Fin, are you okay?"

Finland was trembling. He griped the rifle tight, turned his head and looked back at Sweden. He was not making any noise, but Sweden's eyes were red and his face was soaked. Finland could only stare for a few moments in awe and fear.

Sweden was crying. Shocked by this, Finland whispered, "I'm… okay."

"It touched you?"

"Ah…" and then Finland started to feel the scorched skin under the cloth of his shoulders. He gasped in pain then crossed his arms over his chest and delicately touched his shoulders with his fingertips.

Sweden's eyes lit up in concern although his face hardly changed expression.

"Let's go inside," he said. "Get you treated."

When they stood suddenly, they all wavered; their exhausted, wobbly legs nearly causing them to kiss the spongy ground. They tottered over to the front entrance, and soon other groups had arrived on scene, pausing in absolute surprise when seeing the weapons each had in tow.

Japan held open the door while Canada ushered each of the sweaty and tear-faced bodies indoors. They passed under the horseshoe, and the strong scent of sage hit them suddenly. Now they felt a calm rush over them, and they kicked off their shoes to sit in slumps in the sleeping area.

Canada slid to his knees in front of them.

"What happened?" he asked.

The children gathered around Canada, with Sealand and Ladonia bug-eyed and gawking at the state Sweden was in. They had never seen him so stressed and terrified before in their lives. They looked over Denmark, who had his head limply leaning to the side while he stared forward. His long, ungelled hair which was in disarray from the run, and stuck to the skin of his forehead. Finland hugged the rifle for comfort as his face scrunched up in pain.

Finland's shirt was removed so that Japan and Canada could immediately get to work on his burns. Germany's group had arrived in time to hear the story, then one-by-one the others had returned, all inquiring about the gunshot they had heard.

They were all back in time for lunch. Denmark repeated the story as many times as was necessary, with the memory already seeming so strange and blurry. It was a jumble of shadows, growls, screeches, and moans. He looked up at the scythe he was holding. It stood straight up in the middle of the sleeping area like a flag pole.

"The gun did nothing," Denmark uttered. "But Sweden sliced it to bits with his blades and it just vanished."

Britain checked over one of the pieces of the hedge clippers.

"Iron," he said. "No wonder. It's harmful to spirits."

Food was dealt out to all. Norway and Iceland sat down with the other three Nordics, although they had nothing to say to them that had not already been said by everyone else. Sealand and Ladonia crawled up to Sweden's side, who turned to observe them calmly.

"Did it hurt you?" Sealand asked.

Sweden shook his head. Sealand sighed and flopped backwards on the mattress.

"I'm so glad," Sealand whispered, tears pricking his eyes. "What you just saw was so scary and… I was so worried that something like this was going to happen except- except that…"

Sealand gasped deeply.

"We're alright," Sweden said. "The stone protected us."

Sealand stopped crying. He peered up at him and asked in a raw voice, "R-Really? It kept you all safe?"

"Mm."

"Please keep it then," Sealand said. "I don't want you to get hurt."

"Okay."

Sweden felt a small amount of regret for lying to Sealand, but he could diminish this guilt by cheapening it to just being a white lie. He did it so that the micronation would not have to stress unnecessarily, because no matter how Sealand felt, he could not do anything to help them out in the forest. Sweden felt as though it would be better if at least Sealand could stay calm then hopefully recapture some of his typical personality.

They finished eating their small portion of food, although after the long sprint and energy-consuming stress, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland were ravenous. Their insides pinched unhappily and they could not help but stare longingly into the kitchen. They were not alone in their hunger, although Norway and Iceland did not feel it to the same degree. Like most, it was just a constant hollowness that sucked in their abdomens.

Norway stood, stretched his back then said, "Let's go to the bathroom before we head out again."

Iceland agreed, and he followed Norway to the logbook in front of the rose quartz. Once they rounded the table and stepped over the salt line however, they were officially considered outside of the safe zone. Nothing had waited for them to leave it however and they proceeded up the stairs without incident.

Iceland went in first while Norway hung against the wall opposite to the bathroom. He listened to the hum of conversation below until the door creaked open and Norway slipped past the other into the bathroom. Iceland took his spot on the wall and also listened to the people to bide the time, trying to see if he could identify the different voices.

His eyes drifted over to the trail of blood down the hall. His nearly empty stomach clenched at the sight of it and he regretted that they would not be cleaning any of it up. The wood had been towelled off, but everything on the carpet was there to stay, to look over every time they waited on someone in the bathroom.

He heard the flush that was soon followed by running water. It was now acceptable for him to move in closer to the door to talk through it to Norway.

Norway must have assumed he was there, because he asked Iceland, "Have you been having any strange dreams since you've come here?"

"Me? No. I don't even remember them."

Norway opened up the medicine cabinet and found a box of cotton swabs. He extracted one, closed up the box and observed himself in the mirror.

"I have," Norway said as he checked over the cotton end. "Every night it's the same one."

"Yeah?" Iceland prompted him. "Well, what is it then?"

"It's the cemetery here," Norway replied while tossing the now used cotton swab into a small garbage can. "It's sunny and warm. I think it's summer or something. I feel really happy just being there. I don't know why, but I keep wanting to go into the forest for a moment. Just for a bit, because I know I just want to be back in the field."

"Happy dreams?" Iceland mused. "Odd. I've heard a few people whimpering, but then you've got these dreams?"

A small flow of water dropped from the faucet, which Norway let fill his palms before he splashed it over his face.

"The strange part is," Norway continued as he took just a small amount of soap and started smearing it over his face, "I can never get into the forest. There's an invisible wall that won't let me go in."

He scrubbed his face until it was white with foam. He did not feel like he needed a shower today, for he had taken one just yesterday morning. No one was comfortable being alone in the bathroom for too long, but the desire to feel clean and smell nice was overpowering. They spared the hygiene products as preciously as they did with food. Just for now however, Norway wanted to wash the grit off his face from when branches had rubbed against him.

He lowered his face into the sink and held his breath while he splashed the soap off. He used the towel to pat his face dry, and then he stared at his reflection. He enjoyed how fresh his skin looked and he was satisfied to note that the heavy rings under his eyes from before had faded quite a bit. The last two nights, especially the last one, had given them adequate amounts of sleep.

Norway pulled apart the shower curtains and took the shampoo bottle into his hands. He lifted the lid and scraped away the shampoo that had been trapped between the lid and hole. He dropped it back down, wet his hair, then focused on removing the damp sweat that was sticking his hair into uncomfortable clumps.

Iceland asked, "Does anything else happen in your dreams?"

"No," Norway sighed. "Just that."

He lowered his head and let the lukewarm water caress the skin under his hair. He languidly lifted his hands and ruffled his hair, washing away the shampoo down a drain he could not see. He took his time stroking all the way down some locks of hair, making sure that everything was washed away before he touched around for the towel. Once located, he furiously dried his hair before rubbing the ends of the towel over his face to catch those running drips.

Norway lifted his eyes back to the mirror and then blinked in bewilderment. He saw a black mass behind him in the reflection, but before he could fully check it over, it rushed forward. A hand slapped over his right eye before something large and sharp was plunged deep into his left socket. An agonized scream erupted from him and Iceland immediately dove to the door to pull panickingly at the handle.

It was locked although he was sure that Norway had not locked it.

" _Norway_!" Iceland cried. " _Norway, unlock the door_!"

Norway screeched as the grip tightened and the sharp object sunk deeper into his eyeball. He felt the trickle of blood over his cheek and he writhed into the thing holding him. He threw himself about the bathroom, but whatever had him held on powerfully, driving the object deeper inwards, digging through the soft white tissue and striving to scrape the end of the socket.

Norway kicked backwards, nailing at a solid shin. He struggled and wailed, striking the leg behind him again and again. The other gave no reaction, and only pressed him tighter while lifting his chin upwards to sink the object down more easily.

Iceland frantically attacked the door. It splintered and cracked, but it was not coming down fast enough. He whipped his head to the side as a Denmark hopped to the top of the stairs and sprinted towards him. More people could be heard racing up the stairs as the area echoed with Norwegian screeches and pleas. The closest to the door, however, could understand what he was screaming out.

" _Please, please- oh god someone help me! Ah- ah please, somebody! Ahhhh! Stop! Stop please, don't-_ "

The object was harshly torn from his eye and everything disappeared. Norway fell onto the floor, crying and whining as he dragged himself to the door. He reached up a heavily trembling hand and turned the lock before falling backwards limply over the mat. Denmark and Iceland burst in immediately after hearing the click, throwing themselves to Norway's side. He lay motionless on his side while red leaked from his face to patch the shaggy mat.

Denmark yelped then gathered Norway from the floor, supporting him into a sitting position while turning him towards him. His eyes flew open while a cry escaped his throat. Blood streaked the side of Norway's face, dripping from the shredded, torn mess of his eyeball along with other flowing liquids. His clear iris and pupil were split along with his eyelids, which were now parted and loose flaps of skin. The other eye was squeezed shut as Norway gasped inwards brokenly when the pain only increased as more time passed.

Iceland had his hands over his face, and he peered through his spread fingers. He whimpered, "Norway… no…. Oh my god, Norway…"

Germany, Canada, and America shoved their way into the bathroom. Their eyes stretched wide open and America's jaw dropped.

"Oh shit!" he exclaimed.

Canada clutched the side of his head and bolted away, shoving past the other fearful people coming up the stairs and finding the recovery area they had established last night. Canada located the scissors, opened the blades wide then bit them fiercely into the white sheet. Canada could hear Germany yelling, then he heard a thunder of footsteps on the stairs as people tore down towards him. Canada promptly had Norway stationed in front of him, sitting up and requiring the support of Iceland.

Iceland was still moaning and crying. He looked at Canada and begged, "Please help him…"

Canada whispered, "There's not much I can do."

It was not bleeding so much, but he felt that he should not press anything against it to stop it. He looked over the massive wound nervously while his heart fluttered, for he felt so utterly impotent. Canada did not know what he could possibly to do heal him. He wanted to call for professional help, but he knew that they could not. The police would soon find out about the game if Norway was taken to the hospital for treatment. Everything would be over then.

Canada carefully cleaned away the solution of fluids over Norway's face. He then lightly bound the cloth around his head to cover the injury.

"I'm sorry," he murmured. "I can't help you. I'm sorry."

Romania jogged over with a bottle of painkillers.

"I know they're cheap and won't do much," he said. "But I hope they at least will help a little."

The bottle was only a quarter full; a supply saved for emergencies. Britain had been given some the night before, but Finland's wounds were not as serious so he had refused to take any. He tapped a few into Norway's palm, who slowly closed his hand around them. Denmark hopped in with a glass of water, which Norway took into his other hand.

He stared down at the still surface of water. He leaned forward while lifting his hand, watching the water tilt as he slid the edge of the cup between his lips. He closed his eye as water entered his mouth, but as agonizing pain clenched his deflated, sliced eyeball, he choked and spluttered. He lowered the cup and coughed into the crook his arm.

"You're okay," Iceland breathed. "Big… brother…"

Even in the given situation, Norway felt a fond happiness that eased away much of his remaining fear. Iceland never wanted to utter this term to him, but now that he got to hear it, he felt cared for and safe. He gulped down the water and swallowed the pills before laying his head against Iceland's shoulder to faze in and out of consciousness with every wave of pain.

He did not get much time to rest, for Germany was soon kneeling in front of them.

"What happened?" he asked.

Norway murmured, "The black figure appeared in the mirror behind me."

"A shadow?"

"I don't know," he replied softly. "I didn't see most of it. Just its stomach before it covered my eye and then stabbed something into the other."

It was easy for him to stay calm when Iceland had an arm wrapped around him. Iceland usually acted far too bitter to show any sort of affection, so this comfort was new to Norway and was fully appreciated.

Germany said, "So it covered your eye so that you couldn't see it? That sounds unlike something a ghost would do."

"It was solid," Norway added.

"Interesting," Germany muttered. "So it seems that a person attacked you. Can you describe any details?"

"The hand was bigger than mine," he replied. "And it didn't seem like the person was much bigger than me."

France joined in, "But how did they get in a closed room?"

Canada added, "And wasn't everyone accounted for down here?"

"Let's rule out teleportation," Germany was quick to growl.

Britain said, "Hold on. I've just realized something."

He flicked his wrist to indirectly point at Norway then continued, "If someone covered his right eye and stabbed his left eye, could it be perhaps that this person is left handed?"

"Whoa, dude..." America said. "That narrows it down a lot! Who here is left-handed then?"

People shook their heads and shrugged their shoulders. However, Germany swallowed and said, "Prussia is."

"Prussia?" Denmark shouted. " _Prussia_ did this?"

His eyes lit up with hot, ferocious flames. He sprang to his feet, throwing his scorching glare around the room as though he was trying to seek out Prussia among them.

"No," Germany growled. "Prussia would never do something like this."

Denmark's rage could not be cooled so easily, and he could not hear Germany. He only continued to yell out, "He fucking tried to kill Norway!"

He flashed his eyes to the side, catching onto Norway's words.

"I don't think this person was trying to kill me," Norway said. "They did it slow and carefully."

Denmark shrieked, "He _wanted_ to hurt you? He wanted to _torture_ you?"

Denmark leapt into the middle of the room and snatched his scythe. Others yelped and dove away as Denmark raised the polished blade high into the air. He clutched the handles in a death grip until his knuckles turned entirely white.

He snarled, "I'm going to fucking _kill_ him for what he did!"

Germany boomed, "Put that down! Put it down now!"

"Rescue the bastard? We should have known it was him! No one would have expected it!" Denmark cried. "Fun game huh? Some hide-and-go-seek? Fine! When I find him I am going to tear him apart!"

Finland yelped, "Den-Denmark! What's gotten into you?"

"It wasn't Prussia!" Germany hollered. "It could never be Prussia!"

Tears of rage burned in Denmark's eyes. He bit the air harshly as he snapped back, "Who the hell did this then? It was one of us! So which one of you did this?"

"No!" Canada gasped. "It was none of us- none of us!"

"Yes it was!" Denmark shouted. "A person was involved! Don't you keep denying it!"

Denmark's head snapped to the side. He bared his teeth.

"You," he hissed.

Russia stiffened as Denmark took a step towards him.

"It was you, wasn't it? Maybe you just made it look like it was Prussia. You must feel so sly-"

Sweden snapped forward and snatched the scythe. For two seconds Denmark viciously struggled to pull it from Sweden's grasp, but the other had locked on and refused it release it. The struggle seemed to light up something in Denmark's mind, for his hands went slack and he dropped them to his sides.

His eyes sparkled as he ignored the weapon now held by Sweden. He raised an arm and pressed it over his eyes as the tears poured through.

"Norway…" he sobbed. "Why would someone do this to you? Nor…"

He walked over and sank to the ground. From Norway's other side, Denmark fell into him, wrapping his arms around him and clasping his hand onto his wrist. Other times Norway would hold off Denmark when he was crying and reaching out to hug him, but Norway recognized today that for Denmark's sake, he needed to be close. In order to feel his warmth to know that despite what had happened, that he was okay and still here alive and safe.

"What now then?" Japan asked Germany. "Do we proceed as normal?"

"We need to take a team over to that shed to investigate that tunnel," Germany replied.

"Are you crazy?" Finland gasped. "That thing is still hanging around there and there's a creature down that hole!"

"We have everything we need," Germany said. "The flashlight and the iron blades. We can defend ourselves."

Finland hesitated, so Germany muttered, "If no one is brave enough to do it, then I will. I can go down there. Right now. Show me the place."

Spain asked, "Are we all going out?"

"No," he said. "I'll take care of this. Sweden, Denmark, Finland. With me."

He marched ahead to the door once he had obtained the flashlight that had been left on the table. The three who had been called reluctantly followed him outside, Denmark entrusting Iceland with Norway although he felt pangs of stress to leave him when he was still under so much pain. Sweden discarded the scythe and took the broken hedge clippers, while after some thought, Finland left the rifle behind.

The four left the safe haven of the inside behind. They looked up at the sky as fat raindrops splashed onto their faces, imprinting numbing coldness onto their flesh.

"Let's hurry," Germany uttered.

They jogged across the yard as the rain weighed down their clothes. They were panting by the time they were partway into the cemetery; the strain from this morning and the lack of food tiring the Nordics especially. Germany was ignoring the heavy weight of his legs as he charged forward, although the three others were soon slowing. He noticed the group's pace rapidly decreasing in speed, which instantly irked him.

"Come on!" he called.

The rain began to grow heavier. The three started to fall behind him despite how their roles had been to lead. They grasped out hot breaths that came out as white mist.

"Germany-" Finland choked. "Can we slow down?"

The rain pounded the ground and splashed mud over their feet as they continued running through the tombstones. Finland was sure he had spoken loud enough for Germany to hear over the rain, but he received no response.

"Hey," Sweden exhaled.

Germany barked, "We're so close now! Keep running!"

The sky above opened and the rain raced down to the ground to smash against it at high velocity. It struck their eyes, and they raised their arms to shield themselves from the onslaught. The sunny field was now a wall of gray in which dark tombstones hurled at them suddenly from the gloom.

"We have to go back!" Denmark yelled. "We can't go into the forest like this! We can't see a thing!"

"No, we're so close to getting to Prussia!" Germany bellowed. "Enough stopping. We're getting him now!"

"No, we can't!" Finland cried. "We won't be able to see or hear the shadow back there! Please! Stop!"

Finland stopped running, bent forward and gasped over his knees. Denmark immediately halted and crouched down beside him in a low squat. Sweden gave into exhaustion as well, and he stood up tall while breathing heavily.

Germany whipped around to glare at them with a face scrunched up in rage.

"None of you really care, do you?" he roared. "You don't care about my brother at all!"

"That's not it, Germany!" Finland cried. "We do care! This is serious!"

A lonesome cry rose up over the rain and the wind that had begun to pick up.

"I'm the only one trying! No one else but me cares if Prussia dies!"

The three Nordics called back in chorus, "No, we do care! We want to help you!"

Germany marched back towards them as the rain bounced off his form. His teeth were exposed, shining white and wet from the water.

"Do you mean it?" he demanded. "Or do you just fear what I would do to someone who tries to escape this place?"

Sweden said, "We mean it."

"Is this a promise?" Germany demanded. "You will do everything in your power to find him and the other missing people?"

"Yes," Denmark told him. "If he really is innocent, then I will save him. I want to protect everyone."

"Me too," Sweden replied.

Finland called out, "Of course! I don't want anyone to get hurt. We'll help you, Germany!"

Germany watched the rain ping off the blades of the iron hedge clippers in Sweden's hands. This person had fought today instead of just running. This group had gone deep into dangerous territory and had uncovered something important before escaping alive. He recalled as well how Sweden and Denmark had been the ones to volunteer to go into the cellar with Romania to get the power back on.

It was at that time that Germany realized, _They are the brave ones that I can rely on_.

He reached a decision. He gave them a nod, finally giving in and saying that they could come back the next day once the storm had passed. Their shoulders sank in relief, and they looked at him with exhausted gratitude.

He headed back to the mansion with the Nordics loyally bordering his side.

* * *

The storm did not let off until after the sun had set. Romania, with the help of others, took clothes and had them washed and dried during the time that everyone was hanging around doing nothing particularly interesting. They had concealed themselves in swaths of blankets, some taking the time to shower in the bathroom on the fourth floor so that they felt completely refreshed by the time their clothes were returned to them. Another warm dinner with dessert left over from the party was given out to them, and things seemed relatively calm for today.

Sweden met with Sealand once again. He removed the pendant and held it out to him.

"Thank you for it," Sweden said.

"You should have it!" Sealand protested.

"I'm concerned for you as well," he mumbled. "It's only fair if you take it."

Sealand looked at him with fear, and Sweden's eyes softened. It was rather kind and noble for Sealand to show so much worry for him, but he was in danger just like the rest. Sealand looked so innocent in his reindeer costume that had been made as a gift from Finland. Sweden could not bare to see it ripped open, and for blood to spread across the fabric.

Sealand took it and clipped it back behind his neck after Sweden had held it out to him for a few seconds. They raised their eyes to observe from their sitting positions the final load of laundry coming down and then the articles being passed around from the basket. Sweden's clothes had already been washed and dried, and because he had been the first to shower as well, he felt as though the horror had been thoroughly washed off him. The filth, sweat, and rain were gone; the only thing that remained as evidence of today's excitement was the weariness in his muscles.

He stretched out, his joints cracking, before he sunk into the blankets. The rain had been a comforting sound, but now that it was gone he relaxed to the ticking of the clock and Finland's soft breathing as he dozed beside him. He let out a quiet sigh that was mint-tinted from toothpaste, then let himself drift into blackness.

He did not know at first how long he had been napping, but after a click from above followed by yells and cries, he woke. His eyes captured nothing but the same blackness he had just seen behind his eyelids.

The power was out again.

Britain called out, "Everyone stay calm! We are still safe inside here! There's no need for panic!"

The frightened voices calmed as they were reminded of the salt and gemstones. They remained fixated in their sleeping areas, people feeling out for each other to make sure those close to them were still present and alright.

"Latvia?" Estonia murmured while feeling around for him. The spot beside him that had just been occupied was surprisingly empty.

In case Latvia had been unable to hear him and had just hopped away somewhere after being startled, he called out just a little louder, "Latvia, are you there?"

He heard Lithuania and Poland whispering amongst themselves close by. He did not need to check for them. However, worry crept into Estonia, for their sleeping area was right beside the edge of a salt line. It was possible that Latvia could have accidentally jumped over it.

He stood up, calling out again,"Hello, Lat-"

An arm grazed over his before a hand carefully placed itself over his chest. He had but a brief second of confusion, wondering if this was Latvia, but then something cold and incredibly sharp stabbed deep into his abdomen. The tip pierced through his skin and now slid in deeper before slicing across horizontally in a smooth, slow motion.

He stared ahead, mouth gaping as his muscles and tissues tore. His brain flashed with the single thought of, _What is happening?_ before he felt heaviness sinking from him. Tears leaked from eyes that wavered and stared forward without comprehension. His hands lowered to hold a warm and wet mass that was falling out of him. As his mouth opened in a gagging exhale, the hands traced over his face until his mouth was found. Intruding fingers jammed it full with cloth, then loose strands were fastened tight around his throat.

Resistance never crossed his mind. Despite the gag and the near inability to breathe, he only dipped his head and focused on the hands he could not see. His fingers slipped occasionally over squishy and smooth surfaces, but they worked hard to try and push the dropping organs back in.

Arms hooked under his armpits and he was tilted backwards. The thing behind him began pulling him away and his heels dragged over the carpet. He could feel a tide of blood washing over his legs, undoubtedly pouring over the floor. He grew all so dizzy, and his head flopped limply to the side as a heavy weightlessness overtook his body.

He had lost energy so quickly that he never had the chance to let out a muffled scream before he fell unconscious with his hands still resting over his intestines.

* * *

No one had heard a thing. They sat together cross-legged and ignorant while the leaders discussed what to do.

"A ghost messed with our power again," America said. "I think that it's to draw us out or something."

"Was it a ghost?" Germany pondered. "Could something like that be so intelligent as to do this?"

"Sometimes they are," Britain replied. "And if so, then they are taking advantage of our sightlessness. It knows that we are scared, so none of us will leave the circle unless we have to."

America said, "Can't we all just stay here until daytime? Do we have to turn on the power now?"

"It's still early," France replied. "I don't think anyone is going to be able to hold off going to the bathroom for that long to be honest."

"Just go outside instead!" America exclaimed. "It's better than risking our lives!"

"No, we have to," Germany said. "With the power off, it is too easy for the culprit to walk around unnoticed. We need to have light."

Britain muttered, "It's just going to be turned off again. I can already see that this is going to become a reoccurring problem."

"We won't let it become a problem," Germany grunted. "Unless we allow it to be."

"Hey," Romania arrived at their side. "Where's the flashlight?"

Germany knew that he had placed it on the table by the logbook before. He stuck out his hand and grazed it over the tablecloth, sweeping and at first finding nothing. The touch of curled paper met his fingertips, then he skimmed over its surface until his fingers tapped against metal. He grasped it, clicked it on, and passed it over.

Germany did not have to call out for them. Denmark, Sweden, and Finland were already here, standing at the ready. This time it was just one of them who would go down, and in this occasion it was Finland, with each half of the hedge clippers to a hand.

He was highly apprehensive as he stepped out of the salt circle with Romania. All of his senses were sharpened, and he turned around often with both arms spread and the blades outstretched. They paced into the kitchen, and Romania opened the door to the cellar where the blackness seemed more profound. He felt a surprised twinge of worry hit him, as though he had not expected that they were truly going down there.

He stuck close to Romania as they descended into the freezing room. Romania swung the flashlight around, checking the area around them but not slowing into a cautious pace. It seemed he did not want to stay here for any longer than they had to, for they swiftly strode across the stone floor towards the fusebox.

"Same thing," Romania muttered as he opened the metal door and examined the inside. "The switches were flipped."

He used his index and middle fingers to flick on the power of two areas of the house at once. The kitchen and main room upstairs illuminated simultaneously, then Romania quickly tapped the other switches on. The light that had been left on in the basement now powered back on as well. When they turned around, they could immediately spot a shadow floating decimetres over the floor in the center of the room.

Finland yelped, but Romania touched his shoulder.

"Relax. It is just a person. Probably that teenager who hung herself down here."

Romania walked forward unbothered. Finland came up to his side, his grip tightening on the hedge clippers as they approached the shadow.

"Um…" Finland whispered. "Romania…"

"Don't worry," Romania said. "It'll disappear soon."

Romania felt no need to press closer to the wine tanks to avoid it. He was intent on taking the straight path to the exit, which included that they would walk past the still figure.

Finland's lips wavered and he held the blades stiffly out as though to keep the shadow at a distance. Romania saw this and added, "It doesn't see us. It's alright."

They tread past its left side, with Finland closest to it, just a metre away. He stared unblinkingly at the dark mist so he did not miss how it turned its head to regard them as they walked by.

Finland leaped away from it and yapped, "It sees us! It sees us!"

Its entire body turned around to face them. Romania and Finland watched it as they scrambled back towards the door. After a moment, it began hovering towards them slowly.

Romania exhaled, "No, they don't do this…"

They soared up the stairs and snapped their heads back. The shadow had followed them, now nearing the bottom of the wooden stairs. Romania slapped the door in its face before hurrying Finland away. He knew that a door would not keep a spirit away, but when he glanced over his shoulder, he was absolutely relieved to see that it did not faze through the wood to follow them out.

 _Maybe it disappeared on its own_ , Finland thought after as well discovering this. _And Romania was right about one thing_.

They burst back into the main room. Finland and Romania let out one deep, collective gasp as they saw the massive amount of blood spilled over the hardwood and some sheets and pillows. The others were already whimpering, moaning, and crying as they indecisively wavered between being close to the blood and retreating from it. They stared in horror at the destroyed salt line beside the Baltics' sleeping area, where the red-stained grains were spread far out over the carpet and left as lone individuals.

Latvia sat alone and uncomforted as he wept over the floor, utterly ignoring the dark green gem hanging heavily from his neck. Lithuania held his arms tightly over himself while Poland stared at a blood-speckled pillow in shock. Finland scanned the crowd frantically for his friend.

His eyes watered as he thinly wailed, " _Where's Estonia?_ "


	7. The First Glimpse of Hell

_"How many of us are there?"_

 _Ralph came forward and stood by Piggy._

 _"I don't know."_

* * *

The Halloween decorations hung in the dark halls, forgotten and slumped over like old corpses. The ends of the mansion were filled with murk, occasionally where something within it moved to the side like a piece of loose cloth. The warm bodies were gathered far away together, but coldness reigned where their presences did not. In such a spot overtaken by icy air, a door slammed shut though it was not heard by any of those clustered in the main room.

"Was the salt line destroyed before or after?" Britain asked. He was already in the midst of thinning out the salt lines to reestablish one where the former line had been kicked.

France asked nervously, "What's the difference?"

"If it was before," Britain continued, "then that could mean one of two things. One, that the salt is ineffective and the ghosts are too powerful-"

The crowd stiffened and inhaled sharply. Britain flashed his green gaze around, his eyes narrowing, with the fading scars swiped over his face giving him the look of a hardened veteran.

"Or two, that someone took the opportunity to get another one of us."

Canada sighed, "But there is so much that I don't understand. How can this person see in the dark? How do they capture people and make them disappear so quickly? How and where do they hide them in such a short amount of time?"

America said nothing, but he looked at Canada in surprise. He thought, _Wasn't he against the idea of one of us being the culprit yesterday? I know he said none of us could do this. So he changed his mind then? Does he have any guesses on who it could be?_

"The combination of dark magic likely accounts for this," Britain replied.

"Look at the blood though," France pointed out. "How can they do this every time and get none of it on themselves?"

Germany was surprised when China was standing up and suddenly beside him, saying, "They might have had blood on their clothes, but they had it cleaned off in a load of laundry!"

Germany said, "Wouldn't we have noticed that?"

Japan was now up at the front as well.

"You know, it might have been hard to tell if blood was on their clothes if the person was wearing black. In fact, if we consider that Norway saw a person wearing black clothes behind him, then I think we can narrow the suspects down this way."

Britain commented, "Can we though? It sounds too obvious. I feel as though that is what the culprit wants us to think. That's probably why Norway was allowed to see him briefly. He was let go so we would blame someone wearing black."

America said, "But it might not be that complicated though. Like, maybe it's just on one level. It might be the obvious answer and you are overthinking it."

"Or they want us to believe a double bluff. We go for the tough answer then go back to the obvious one because we think it's simple but it never was. They could be four steps ahead of us, or more."

America groaned, "Ah- this is so confusing, dude!"

"We can note it though," Germany said, "all the people who came wearing black at the party."

Germany started off at the left of the room then scanned every individual.

"Seychelles, Poland, America, Britain…"

He dismissed them. The height description from Norway did not fit all, and also Germany did not consider for a moment that America and Britain could be considered.

"Finland, Denmark, Kugelmugel…"

Finland had his ninja costume, so he was indeed completely dressed in black. Nevertheless, he was also smaller than Norway. Denmark's costume contained silver chains crossing over him, but Germany ruled him out as well before he considered his clothes. He knew that the brotherhood between the Nordics was too strong for any of them to viciously attack one of their own. As for Kugelmugel, he was out of the question.

"Romania…"

He had been suspected before, but Germany knew that he had seen him near him at the time he had heard Norway screaming.

"Ukraine."

She blinked at him. She had her hands clasped over the shirt of her witch costume.

"Russia…"

His clothes were nearly entirely black except for his wings and scarf. Germany was unsure however, pondering over what Norway had said about the person being just a bit larger than him. The size difference between Norway and Russia was substantial.

He could not remember seeing Russia during lunch however. So he slowly asked, "Er, where were you at that time?"

Russia frowned, "I was here like everyone else."

Ukraine nodded, "I was sitting beside him while he was lying down and trying to rest."

Germany dropped it and went silent. That was when Lithuania said, "But wasn't Prussia wearing black?"

Annoyance pricked at him and Germany growled back, "It wasn't Prussia!"

Switzerland cut in, "You say he's innocent; we say that we're innocent. You accuse us all you want, but you get mad when we have suspicions of our own?"

"It is different. It is not a matter of hypocrisy, but how trusted you all are by other people. If you are a nation where not a lot is known about you, then you are therefore more suspicious. It does not mean that you are guilty, but there is more reason to trust the bigger nations."

"That's what France said," Switzerland hissed. "But it doesn't mean anything. You can't just act like your opinion is any better than ours. If someone does something suspicious, then I am going to suspect them even if it is your own brother."

Germany was surprised when America scoffed, "Prussia hasn't done anything! We're just accusing him because he's wearing black and is left-handed. A few more of us are left-handed, but it doesn't mean anything. I'm going with Denmark on this and saying that they just used their left hand to mess with us."

Britain commented, "So you do think that they are planning in different levels?"

"Yeah, sure. Sometimes but, ahh..." He shook his head. "It's so confusing. I don't know whether to think that they are really smart or dumb. Maybe it's somewhere halfway."

France said, "You mean that maybe Norway was not supposed to see the person at all?"

"Yeah, maybe."

"There was a point in keeping Norway alive," Canada spoke up. "I think that perhaps this was a test to see our reactions."

"A test?" Denmark cried. "Hurting Norway was a _test_?"

His eyes were filled with the same rage that had infected them just hours ago. He moved to stand up, but then the anger dissipated instantly and he returned to just holding Norway in his arms. His eyes were half-open, lowered and glimmering as he placed his chin over Norway's head.

"Bollocks," Britain sighed. "We're still no closer to figuring anything out."

"Everyone was down here when Norway was attacked," Canada murmured. "Almost anyone could have attacked Prussia, Belarus, and Estonia, but Hungary and Norway are strange."

Latvia's thin voice rose up, "It's as though there's someone else here."

"One of the missing people are not really missing?" Austria sighed. "I've heard enough of that. The blood should be enough proof someone hurt them."

"Fake blood might have been planted," Lithuania shrugged.

Poland threw out, "When Hungary was taken, there was like no blood at all!"

Austria snapped, "Don't you dare start talking like Russia did about her! She's innocent!"

"It's not like I'm taking his opinion or anything." Poland checked his side. "I don't even like him either."

"Enough," Germany muttered. "This isn't solving anything. All we're doing is accusing each other again when we have only circumstantial evidence."

He gave a nod to Canada. America muttered under his breath but just loud enough to be acknowledged, "Sometimes it is all that is needed in court."

America stared back over at Russia. A few people followed his gaze before dropping it when nothing interesting occurred.

Everything was currently settled for Germany, so he did not want to have another argument start up to have the crowd to get worked up and hard to control once again. He broke up any further discussions, firmly stating that all problems would be solved tomorrow and that rest was all they could focus on at that moment.

"Rest?" The protest came from Switzerland. "How can you expect us to do that when we're dropping like flies?"

Liechtenstein was surprised by the tightness in Switzerland's grip on her wrist. He was glaring out at other people from over her head.

"We do what we can," Germany muttered.

"Four people in just two days. This is freaking crazy. We're all going to die here!"

"Of course not," Germany growled.

Switzerland hissed back, "We're just going to stay here and get murdered by a bunch of ghosts!"

"We can protect ourselves now," Germany said. "We'll stay calm and fight. We have iron and this zone. We will survive."

It still sounded ridiculous to him to say these things as valid strong points, but he wanted this dispute to end quickly. He felt the dire urge to crush the arising, mutinous thoughts Switzerland was voicing before they spread to the others.

"We're just going to be picked off when our guard is down."

"Then don't drop your guard. I have told you all to stay focused since the beginning. It is only your fault if you get taken by something."

"My fault?" Switzerland snarled.

"Yes."

"What the hell?"

"Look. The thing you all need to realize that if you just hang around crying and complaining, you will get caught. The only thing I've tried to do this whole time is to get the job done as quickly as possible to get us all out. I've tried to protect you. I tell you to be brave. Most of you just don't listen to any logic, and all you do is harass me when none of you even have any ideas of your own!"

Switzerland's mouth opened again. Germany cut him off.

"You all need to stop blaming everything on me. Stop trying to make yourselves feel better by complaining about my decisions. They are the best that any of you can come up with. So if you truly believe that you are pitifully helpless, fine. Wait to be captured, but don't whine about it. Why worry about something you can't control?"

A crowd of shocked eyes stared back at him. He scowled back, thinking, _Good. They're finally quiet._

A few did not look so frightened. Germany was pleased to see the three Nordics he had entrusted earlier staring back at him levelly, with even Iceland and Norway looking rather calm. The other leaders seemed to approve, but then France gawked at him while Canada blinked rapidly.

 _They think I am just being insensitive about feelings. They don't understand that there is no room for that. It is no longer just about being focused. Now it's about having tough skin._

The stained blankets and pillow were tossed out of the circle to cover up the rest of the spilled blood on the carpet. Despite how Latvia's trembling had calmed when he had been given the stone, he now began to recommence quivering as he lay down a metre from the edge of the salt circle. He cried while looking out over the bloody salt that had not been covered, until Lithuania rolled him over.

"Don't look," Lithuania whispered.

"Lithuania…" Latvia whispered. "I'm really scared."

"Yes, but-"

"I think Estonia's dead!"

"He's not," Lithuania murmured. "He's alright."

"We don't know that… You can't say that."

"You're right," he exhaled. "But we're just going to hope, okay? We won't leave until we find him."

"Yeah," Latvia sighed, and he felt under the blanket for his pendant. He rubbed the cool malachite gem and metal swirls under his thumb.

Lithuania moved closer to Poland to let Latvia edge further from the border and lie closer to him. He was surprised at how the warmths on either side of him brought some comfort. He accidently touched Poland's side, who blinked, and turned his head to look back into his eyes. Poland did not move away, but rather just closed his eyes again and slowed his breathing as he tried to drift away into sleep.

It seemed as though that was all for the day. Lithuania sunk into the blankets and fell into a light sleep where he did not wake, but cried for hours as he thought about what had happened to Estonia.

* * *

 _Tick, tick, tick_.

Sunlight crept over the sleeping forms, turning them and the blankets into a warm honey colour. Germany adjusted his clothes, sat up, and took a look around at the tainted flesh of the assembly of faces. Italy had been nestled up to his side, but even when Germany had moved, he had remained deep asleep. He glanced over his calm expression, the hair over his forehead not completely covered by his hood. He lay on his back with both the two fuzzy fox ears that were attached to the hood pressing against the pillow.

His entire costume could be deemed too unfitting to the situation. It could seem like a poor, mocking joke. Italy could do nothing about it, and Germany only briefly thought about how ridiculous it was. He was mostly caught up in thinking how innocent and happy he looked in his silky-furred costume with a limp plume of a tail.

He could see just the silver chain around Italy's neck. He liked seeing it there; it helped the stress fade away. Germany then checked around himself to see who else was rising. He found that only one person was up at this time; Russia was in the far corner of the room, already sitting and holding a pillow in his lap.

Germany got up and stood tall over the sleeping people with his hands on his hips. Russia dropped his chin over the pillow and gazed up at him for a while. Germany watched them awakening, impatiently looking at the clock that showed a time of 7:15. He wanted them to immediately go explore that tunnel the instant that the sun had popped over the horizon, but he had to restrain himself to keep their support. He knew that breakfast would have to come first.

Britain, France, and America woke while Canada remained undisturbed. Germany finally could go upstairs to the fourth floor to the bathroom now that others could accompany him. There was a shuffle then they saw Russia dragging his feet on the carpet as he followed behind.

They waited for one after the other to finish in the bathroom. Russia was the last one in, and the other four were obligated to wait for him. They stood by the staircase with their arms folded.

"Damn him," America muttered.

"Huh?" Britain said.

"Russia," America said. "He's acting so weird."

Germany asked, "What has he been doing?"

He replied, "Well, one he didn't even change expression when looking at the blood on the stairs again."

"We already talked about this, America," Britain said.

"Yeah but, last night," America continued. "He was awake and walking around the sleeping area. I woke up then watched him, pretending to be asleep. He stared outside for a long time, then went to the table and started messing with the quartz. He was touching it or something, then he went back to the window."

They blinked at him in astonishment.

"Wait… Really?" Germany said.

"Yeah dude. It was creepy."

France murmured, "Why would he do that?"

"No idea. But I watched him for maybe fifteen minutes. During that time he did the same thing again before he lay back down. It was so crazy. I don't know how many times he might have done this, but it was-"

The sound of running tap water stopped. Soon after, the door opened and Russia padded towards them. America snapped his mouth shut swiftly, and even the others who had not been speaking clenched their teeth tight together. They stood unnaturally stiffly. Russia paused a metre from them, blinked and very softly asked, "Is something wrong?"

America thought while he pulled a lip under his upper teeth. Germany uttered, "Russia… What were you doing last night?"

"Hmm?"

"Last night. What did you do?"

"Nothing," Russia murmured.

He gave them a quick glance before he passed them and slowly made his way down the stairs. After a moment of hesitation in which Germany contemplated commanding him back to him for questioning, they all stepped down behind him. They moved slowly, eyes narrowed while deep in thought. Russia was ignorant to this; he was only able to see the stairs below his feet that he was taking one at a time. He leaned against the railing, running his open palm over the polished wood.

The four behind said nothing at all to each other as they made it down all the stairs and arrived back to the main room. Russia signed back in first, but after the others had done the same, they hung by the table, each staring at him as he sat back down alone.

"Something's wrong with him," France whispered.

America said, "Yeah, I know-"

"No," France continued softly. "I mean he looks sick."

The other three took a closer look at the side of Russia's face. The skin seemed sunken while unusually pale, and the area under his eyes was deep and dark. They checked out the corner of his eye and noticed that it was bloodshot.

"Yes…" Britain murmured in agreement. "He looks terrible."

"He didn't sleep last night," America said. "That's what. He's been up to… things, but I don't know what."

Britain said, "Well, I got to admit that the bit with the quartz is quite suspicious. Especially if he really was doing something with it."

Canada was up and now at their sides.

"Hey, Germany," Canada said while rubbing his eye. "Do you want me to get started on preparing breakfast?"

"Ah, yes. That would be great."

Canada took Italy into the kitchen and the sound of them clattering dishes and opening drawers woke up the rest of those who had still been sleeping. Action started to return to the room as voices rose up, people moved around fixing their sleeping areas and heading over to the logbook to exit the area.

Germany said to the three, "I'll talk to him."

He departed from them and made a beeline to Russia while the other people left in the room looked up in curiosity. They watched as Germany knelt down in front of the sitting, slumped form, and how the lowered head looked up slowly.

"I did not do anything," Russia whispered before Germany could pose a question.

"America said that-"

Russia shook his head and held a hand to the side of a hollow cheek.

"Please. I did not do anything wrong."

Germany scrunched up his eyebrows in slight irritation.

"Look," he said. "He said you were up doing strange things last night."

"Please stop."

Germany blinked at him.

Russia swallowed, "I can't take this. Please… leave me alone."

Germany breathed out hotly through his nose.

"You were walking around and touching the protective items. Tell me why."

Russia started shaking his head. He did not meet his gaze as he refused to respond. Germany snatched his shoulder and shook him roughly. Russia's eyes snapped open in surprise as his body jolted.

"Answer me!" he growled. Russia turned his head away as he was shaken even harder.

"What are you doing?" Ukraine cried. She raced down the last few stairs had hurried towards them. Germany pulled away his hand before she cut in between them.

"He's been doing things at night," Germany explained. "Did you notice this?"

"Yes. But that's because-"

Russia interrupted, "Wait, no."

He glanced at Ukraine with a spark of fear in his eyes. She stopped talking.

Germany's composure was fading exponentially. He hissed, "What is it?"

At that moment he heard Italy said, "Um… Germany?"

He turned around and regarded Italy standing behind him with a dish of food in each hand. Italy saw the utter hardness of Germany's expression, jolted then said quickly, "I have food… for you."

Germany flashed his eyes around the room. He noticed that the others had already been served and that he and the two before him were the only ones left without plates.

His mind flashed with the word, _Breakfast_.

Realization struck him. Russia did not seem so important as suddenly he had remembered the tunnel in the shed hidden away in the forest.

 _After breakfast…_

He was now behind. He stood up, took his plate, and departed from Russia and Ukraine. He shoveled down the food as swiftly as he could as he headed back to his area. The other leaders seemed ready to ask him questions, but Germany gulped down his water and said, "You continue the investigation. We're going now."

He set his empty plate down and strode over to the logbook. Sweden, Denmark, and Finland were already on their way there.

Germany scribbled the time in the logbook before shoving the pencil into Denmark's grasp. He went over and snatched the flashlight from off the table before heading to the door. He held it open, allowing the cool air to sneak into the room while he leaned against it. Sweden took the hedge clippers, and they were about to walk past him when Germany said, "Take the other things."

Finland took his rifle and Denmark carried his scythe once more, although once they were outside, Denmark asked, "Do we really need this too?"

"We don't know what we are going to encounter out there," Germany said. "But mainly, I would rather not leave the weapons behind when I am not there."

They walked together in a group this time. Germany did not force them to run. Now with the bright and encouraging sun looking down at them, he allowed a slow pace to conserve their energy. He recognized now that he had been rash and frantic the day before. He was now utterly determined to stay concentrated so that no mistakes would be made on this crucial day.

Finland glanced away from his rifle over to the other two Nordics. They did not seem nervous despite the scare they had had yesterday, and Finland did not feel this as well. It felt like the nightmare was about to end on this fine day, that this was the final excursion and that they would return victorious with all four of the missing people in tow.

 _We will do it_. Finland clasped the rifle tighter. Their footsteps made pleasant soft sounds on the grass, and he lifted his eyes tranquilly upwards. He looked at Sweden's face and then at the amethyst pendant clipped around his neck. It glimmered tantalizingly today under the exposed sun.

He looked back on ahead as they approached the forest. The uneventful burial vault was passed by, and they broke through the line of pines together. Immediately the lookout system was resumed and the three Nordics glared out in every direction as though daring the shadow to make an appearance. They still tread on careful feet however, and they quietly wandered the sun-dappled path that lacked birdsong on both sides. A while passed before they made it up the path to arrive at the rotting shed.

"Here it is," Denmark uttered.

They crept towards the door. Again, Denmark was the one to pull it open and reveal the inside to the others. Sweden and Finland went ahead to the corner of the shed, standing on either side of the cut-out square in the floor.

Germany stared down at it with hard seriousness. The entrance had been smaller than he had imagined. He now became unsure if his broad shoulders would be able to fit through it.

"Open it," Germany commanded.

Sweden grasped the metal ring and pulled the stone plug upwards. He dragged it to rest just beside the silent, dark entrance. He walked around it and stopped by the edge of the hole to peer at the barely-visible ground at the bottom. Finland did the same, and soon Germany had come over to do this as well while Denmark stood guard at the door.

Germany _hmm_ ed. He was really pondering now. He thought that perhaps he could squeeze himself in, but it might pose as a challenge and there was a chance that he might end up stuck.

He swore, then told them, "I don't think I can get in."

The three of them paused and stared at him. Each had completely expected the entire time that he would be doing it, so they were temporarily confused and unsure of what they could do.

Finland swallowed then said, "I'll go down."

"No," Sweden muttered. "Let me do it."

Finland shook his head, "No. It's better if I do it. I don't know if you'll fit either, but I am the smallest. I can get in and out fast easily in case something happens."

"It will be dangerous." Sweden walked around the hole and came up to him.

"I'll take the gun," Finland said. "You know that I am good with it."

"It won't be enough."

"A shear then too," Finland replied. "I can slip it between my belt where I can grab it quickly."

Germany stared over at Sweden.

"This is the best option," he said.

With blatant reluctance, Sweden handed him one of the halves of the hedge clippers. Finland had already slung the strap of the rifle around him, and once the blade was slipped between the belt and his clothes, Sweden felt his heart rate increasing. Germany passed the flashlight into Finland's hand, but he still did not looked prepared enough for Sweden.

"Wait," Sweden said.

Everyone glanced at him expectantly. Sweden ignored their gazes, only focusing on Finland standing before him. The hole was visible in his peripheral vision, and his eyes drifted over Finland's form, catching onto the intricate details that Sweden had familiarized himself with after all the time he had spent near him. He was whole except for the burn marks on his shoulders that were currently hidden away under bandages. Sweden could not stop himself from thinking how close Finland might have been to death the day before, and that if he had hesitated to rush forward, the extra second might had snatched away Finland's life.

He knew now that he would not be permitted to prevent Finland from going down that hole. There was however, one last thing Sweden wanted to do.

Sweden reached behind his neck and unclipped the necklace. He let the golden chain pile over the gem in his palm, then he moved his hand towards Finland.

"Take this."

Sweden turned his hand and dropped the pendant into Finland's. Finland looked back up into Sweden's eyes as he fixed it around his neck. Sweden however, soon looked down to stare at the purple gem resting against Finland's chest. He felt an ache inside when he considered how it gorgeously went with his bright eyes. Sweden said no words, but Finland could read Sweden's barely expressive face to understand suffering within him.

"I'll yell if I need help," Finland told him. "But don't worry about me. I'll take care of myself."

Finland crouched down and poked his head into the hole first as Denmark had done. He clicked on the flashlight and directed it down the tunnel. He discovered now how long it was, and the light could not uncover all its secrets. Nothing was attracted by the light, and nothing raced over even after the voices had carried on up here for a while. He felt that it was safe to proceed into the hole.

Finland slid his legs in carefully while holding his upper body up with his arms. The rifle pointed upwards vertically, then he was able to slip the rest of his body in. He disappeared from the surface, then landed on the stone floor with a dusty thump.

The silence was heavier down here, trapped and stressed in the narrow tunnel. Finland moved forward slowly, pointing the light in front of him and waving it side-to-side. He sharpened his eyes and wrinkled his nose as a revolting, overly sweet tang struck his nostrils. The scent engulfed him, embedding itself into the fabric of his clothes. It was powerful, and Finland resisted the urge to clutch his stomach as a desire to retch hit him.

He knew that Denmark had been correct. The smell of rotting meat was undeniable.

The light struck the very end of the tunnel. A simple stone wall glowed. Finland shifted the light slightly to the right, and he stopped there.

Sweden and Germany heard Finland's voice call out to him, "There's a door down here!"

Before Finland opened it, he investigated it with his eyes. The wood here was dark and stained, old and rotting like the shed above him. He was more interested however, by something that had been scratched into the stone above the doorway. It appeared to him to be a cross with thin scratch marks over it, as though someone had halfheartedly attempted to scrape it away.

Finland had the flashlight ready in his left hand while his right took hold of the door handle. He cautiously pushed the door open, bit by bit. The darkness in here was deeper, but through the crack of the door, a single eye reflected back at him with a yellow shine.

Sweden's heart stopped momentarily as Finland's scream escaped from the hole followed by the boom of a gunshot. His mouth stretched back as he shrieked the other's name, then he raised his arms and plunged through the hole in the ground. His feet collided with the stone painfully, but the accompanying reaction from his body was the widening of his eyes as he stared far down the tunnel where a light danced.

A huge black shape had Finland pinned to the ground, limbs spread out over him while a long, black head tore savagely at the arm holding the rifle. As the flashlight rolled on the floor, Sweden hollered and surged forward. His feet pounded on the floor and the flashlight stopped its twirling dance to point its light over Finland's writhing and shrieking body.

Sweden watched helplessly from a distance, too far to stop it. He saw the head lifting, black jaws spreading and revealing bright, white fangs that dripped sparkling scarlet. A moment later, these jaws had clamped themselves around Finland's throat. Finland's eyes rolled over to watch the tall shadow running towards him. Its figure was recognizable. Finland's eyelids started to fall as his mind whimpered, _Sweden…_

The creature had a growl in its throat as it snapped its head backwards. A long and thick strip of flesh was pulled from Finland, clenched tightly between the fangs. The mouth did not hesitate to dive back down and sink into the torn, red mess of a throat. The black head snapped side-to-side as it ripped and shredded. It grabbed hold of something pure red, and it parted it from him strand-by-strand, droplets of crimson flying upwards like dark, shooting stars. Finland's screams stopped abruptly.

The creature's growls ended as a blade sliced between its ribs, popping its organs so that juices burst and mixed with each other. It fell limply over Finland, but was immediately shoved off as Sweden collected him. The tears exploded from his eyes and burned his cheeks as a raspy sob escaped him.

Finland's chest rose as he took in a gurgling inhale. Blood squirted from his open throat, and Sweden ripped off his cape to wrap it tightly around Finland's neck. Wetness promptly soaked through and warmly touched Sweden's fingertips. He removed his vest and pressed it against the wound.

Sweden could hear Germany calling him from seemingly far away. By this time, Sweden was running out of clothes to place over every article that was soaked completely through. His hands were drowned in the red of Finland, and his tears dropped constantly into the puddle under Finland's body. Sweden gasped deeply and jammed his arms under Finland to cradle him into his arms.

He tore down the hall, running as though he could not feel Finland's deadweight. He raised Finland and slid him across the floor in the shed. Sweden leapt upwards, snatching the edges to throw himself out from the hole. Germany and Denmark gasped at the appearance of Finland's heavily bleeding, still form, but before they could say emit a sound, Sweden was scooping him up again and bolting away.

The trees sped past him. His feet thundered on the ground while his breaths were high and loud gasps. The path sped by below him, branches breaking occasionally as he took no time for caution. One hand clenched over one of Finland's thighs, the other arm hooked under his back while the hand twisted to press the cloth tightly down on Finland's throat.

"Please," Sweden moaned as he bent his head down to him. "Please..."

His eyes were attracted by movement. He peered through the trees to find a very tall shadow figure among them beside the path. Sweden charged on, and he bared his teeth and let out a booming holler that was drenched in his twisted, internal agony. He sprinted past it, turning his head and showing it the expression of untamed fury that was locked on his face.

It remained petrified there, only turning its head to stare after him until he rounded a corner and disappeared from sight.

* * *

A running shape flashed by the windows and the door banged from a powerful kick. Vietnam leapt forward and pulled it in. Sweden dove inwards, tripping over pillows and blankets as he rushed to set Finland into the established treatment area. The red-washed cloth that hung from him fell wetly against the blanket as Finland was laid down.

Norway and Iceland gasped and rushed forward. Sweden was still there, crying over Finland as Canada, China, and Japan jumped forward to help. They cut the bed sheet, and China ran off to return with a knife to help tear up more strips faster. Some of the bloody clothes Sweden had used were cast away so that Canada could wrap layers of sheet around his neck. He tied a knot, then bound up the meaty wound of Finland's upper arm.

"Oh my god," Canada moaned. "This is bad…"

They covered all the wounds and the weapons that had been attached to him were now stripped off and disregarded somewhere to the side. Despite every effort and how every wound had been hidden from sight, Finland only lay before them very quietly with his eyelids completely fallen.

"I…" Canada placed a hand over his face. "I don't think he's going to make it."

A wail broke out from Ladonia and Sealand's throats. They leapt forward with arms outstretched. Sweden could hardly pay them any mind as they fell to their knees and bawled. Japan however swiftly pulled them away to keep them as far away from this scene as possible.

Canada and China sat beside each other on the opposite side of Finland's body from Sweden. They looked away from Finland, helplessly looking over him at Sweden.

The tears that fell from his eyes were silent. There was absolute suffering within him, trapped in his body like it was a demon in a vessel. It shivered, begged to be freed- but all that could be released was a constant quiver and some relentless buds of light that journeyed down his cheeks. Sweden's face was still, with hardly an expression, but for once he could be read. Through his eyes they could see how blackness rotted his insides, twisted everything like withered ferns, and left him with nothing but the chill of a graveyard within. The absolute feeling of death.

A low murmur escaped his throat.

" _No_ ," the wind breathed. " _Please_."

A quivering hand reached out and stroked its fingertips over the other's forehead.

" _Don't give up_."

The chest rose and fell softly. Quietly. Barely a whisper of a breath.

" _Finland_."

A pause between two breaths.

" _Finland_."

He wiped away a dot of blood on the corner of Finland's lip with the edge of the blanket.

"You aren't ready," Sweden murmured. "Don't go."

Finland inhaled very slowly, and it did not release for the longest, most startling of seconds. Sweden closed his eyes and inhaled raggedly before sliding his arms under Finland and sitting him up. He leaned him against him, wrapping his arms around him and setting his face against his head, dripping his hot tears into his blond hair. Finland's eyelids flickered, but remained closed.

Sweden did not know if he had an ounce of consciousness in him, but he feared that the last breath would come at any time. He held Finland, hoping with all of his being that Finland could feel the warmth and know that if these were his final moments, then he would not be alone.

Finland was blind and he only clung desperately onto the warmth around him as his body grew cold, feeling as though it was floating in the high altitudes. He pulled on Sweden's clothes, nestling into him as fear clutched him and Finland searched for comfort. His body grew weak and his consciousness grew fuzzy, although that one solid emotion could not die, which caused tears to cling to his eyelashes.

He felt so dizzy, barely registering Sweden's tears on his face. When he did, a feeling of surprise and sorrow arose. Through the haze and confusion, Finland thought, _Who's here…?_

This person was stroking his arm. His heart felt a little warmth although the rest of him was fading away into numbness. He was leaning against someone and was closely held. Finland felt some stress disappear as he realized that he was cared for. At a pause between his breaths, before he lost the ability to think, he thought, _There's no better place than here…_

The exhaustion made it hard for him to fear what would come after death. He could now falsely accept it while in this state. As though this was sensed, Sweden lowered his face and murmured into his ear so that only Finland could possibly have heard him. Finland's face did not change. Intense sadness drowned his heart. He hoped that it had not been too late, and that Finland not already beyond reach and would never again hear his voice.

Sweden pet his hair and continued to whisper to him regardless, ever so hopeful that Finland could hear him.

 _"Stay here. Stay with us. Don't leave."_

* * *

Denmark came over to Germany beside the hole.

"What do we do now?" Denmark whined fearfully.

Germany paused as he fought to shove his own emotions down.

"We… go down there…"

The flashlight and half of the iron weapon had been left in that tunnel. Not only that, but Germany knew that Finland had not been able to investigate that room.

Denmark said, "Can you…?"

Germany was already fitting his legs through the hole, and as he had predicted, his chest soon became wedged between the sides. His fingers scraped the dusty floor as he struggled and wiggled. His skin scraped slowly as he forced himself down centimetre-by-centimetre, then he fell down swiftly with his arms raised.

Denmark crouched over the hole as he heard Germany's footsteps retreating down the tunnel. He dipped his head in and called, "Wait, what am I doing?"

A yell floated back to him, "Stay up there and keep watch!"

Denmark departed to return to his post at the door. Germany was meanwhile jogging towards the light at the end of the tunnel that shone over something large and still. A shoe pressed down accidentally in blood-smeared dust, leaving a faint red footprint on his next step as he came up to the flashlight. He grasped it then shone it directly down over the beast sprawled over the floor.

Four lean legs flopped over limply while each foot bore soft pads and dull claws. It had glossy, black fur interrupted by the handle of the hedge clippers rising upwards from its large chest cavity. Germany snatched hold of the blade, yanking it out while surprised by how deep it had been driven into the body.

He turned the hedge clipper half in his hand and watched a rectangular gleam of light race down the length of the blade. Germany watched the blood creeping down towards his hand as he had it raised. He looked past it back down at the corpse, following its neck to its head. He could see the white of an eye half-covered by an eyelid, then he followed its scarred muzzle down to its partially open mouth that dropped a piece of flesh onto the floor. Its fangs were drenched in blood, which as well went over its lips to splash over its cheeks. Matching the theme, more blood continued to trickle out from the creature's throat to mix with its victim's.

The final thing he saw was the amethyst pendant laying on the floor. Its golden chain was snapped and mangled, and the entirety now drenched. He collected and pocketed it before turning away to face the door on his right.

He did not open it slowly, instead opting to smash it open with a solid kick. It crashed against the wall and the wood cracked like a yell of pain. Germany swung the light all around a room that reeked with death. He gagged but clenched his diaphragm as he advanced forward. Promptly, he heard a crunch. He raised his foot to find a now crushed rat skeleton driven into the dirt.

Feathers covered the expanse of the floor, sticky and clumped in pairs. Small animal carcasses littered the floor, some fresher than others and infested with the shining, black bodies of insects. Germany followed the walls, shining the light around him occasionally to make sure nothing was creeping up upon him, but primarily directing his focus forward. In the farthest left corner, he came across the first object in this room.

A very long, old rope was coiled up neatly in the corner. Germany soon discovered that this was the only thing that this room seemed to offer for him. He decided to sling it around his torso, before he advanced towards another door that was slightly ajar. He pulled this one towards him, and felt a waft of cool air blow into the room.

Beyond the door a tunnel slanted upwards and a hole of light glowed enchantingly on the ceiling. Germany clicked off his flashlight and walked forward.

His head poked out of the ground somewhere just a little ways from the shed. Large rocks ringed the hole, concealing it from sight. Germany placed the hedge clipper blade and flashlight beside the entrance before he lifted himself upwards and escaped the putrid scent of the room. He collected his things, lifted his legs high, and stepped over the rocks. He forced his way through flora before crunching over the needles back on the path as he made his way back to the shed.

Denmark was still stationed there, holding his scythe high like a staff. He inhaled sharply, but then sighed when he saw Germany walking towards him.

"Nothing," Germany groaned. "Some rope, but that's it. The tunnel only led back to the surface."

"Hey, um… did you see…?"

"Yes," Germany replied. "There was a dead wolf on the floor."

He and Denmark began to head back.

"A wolf?" Denmark echoed in a whisper. "But why would a regular wolf do all that? That sounds unnatural."

"A lot of things going on here are unnatural," Germany muttered.

As if on cue, they saw the two-metre shadow standing among the trees beside the path up ahead. Germany swore and raised the hedge clipper blade upwards; the flashlight already out of the way and tucked deep into a pocket. Denmark had the scythe raised, unsure if the blade was made of iron. His face showed that he was more than willing to find out.

"Slowly," Germany advised.

They moved forward in a cautious creep. The shadow had its body facing them, its orb eyes upon their approaching forms.

They walked closer, although it made no reaction. It stayed where it was between three pine trees, feet comfortable over the pine needles. The two turned their heads and stared unblinkingly at it as they passed. They whirled around on their heels and walked backwards away from it, although it still made no move to pursue them.

Denmark murmured, "I don't understand what it is doing. It chased us yesterday."

They followed the path as it turned and blocked out sight of the shadow. They turned around to continue walking normally, although they threw occasional glances over their shoulders.

Denmark checked out that wild boar carcass. As he looked into its opened chest to the meaty strips that remained there, a sob escaped him. Germany turned his head over in surprise at the sudden noise emitted from him. Denmark was now freely crying, reminded so quickly of what had happened many minutes ago now that the initial shock was gone.

"Oh, Finland!" he wailed. "Don't be dead… Please…"

Germany did not know what comforting words to offer him. They strode through the cemetery while Denmark only cried heavily and rubbed furiously at his face. Once inside, his crying only increased as he saw Finland's limp body held in Sweden's arms.

"No, no…" Denmark sniffed. He fell down beside them at the side of Norway and Iceland. Iceland's face was already moistened, and tears rained relentlessly from Norway's one open, blinking eye.

All attention was focused onto Sweden and Finland, and even Japan gave up in trying to keep the children's gazes away, only succeeding in keeping them at a distance. Germany stood in the doorway, frozen. The breeze blew around him and entered the room, although no one gave any mind to the cool tickle against their exposed flesh.

Finland breathed quietly against Sweden's chest for a long time. Sweden opened his legs and slid Finland closer, gliding his arms around him while he lowered his head to rest in his dusty hair. He could smell death on him; the scent of rot that resulted in painful memories flashing in his mind. Sweden furrowed his eyebrows and stroked his hand down Finland's ribs, rubbing over the bumps as though trying to encourage out every next breath.

The hands of the clock went around and around. Nobody moved, only straining their ears to hear every next breath come from Finland. Sweden was more than willing to hold him for those hours that passed. He refused to leave Finland, wanting to be there for however much time was necessary. Occasionally he whispered more words to him before touching his cheek against Finland's temple.

Germany eventually closed the door and slunk over to the sides of Britain, France, Canada, and America. He did not say anything to them. He watched the heart-wrenching show with them.

The room became bright with light from the afternoon sun that approached its maximum height in the sky. Dust ignored the gloomy atmosphere, lazily floating about without desire to contribute anything. The clock announced every second that passed, as though inquisitively asking if everything was still alright.

Finland inhaled a ragged breath; his lungs expanded. Sweden perked, murmuring another stream of comforting words to him and holding back his tears to keep the other calm. Slowly, the breaths became deeper, no longer so shallow. The Nordics leaned over him, and Sweden left his hand over Finland's heart to feel the precious beats returning to a faster, more normal rate.

He demonstrated one of his smiles that only Finland could have been able to interpret. Finland had started to drift away from the border of life and death. More oxygen entered him and he began to return to consciousness with restless but weak movements. Finland parted his mouth, showing red-watered teeth as he took in another deep, broken inhale. He tasted metal in his mouth, and he desired water to clean away the flavor. He made a low whimpering sound but the pain of his throat rumbling was too great so he immediately went silent.

"You're okay," Sweden whispered lowly.

Finland finally flickered open his eyes. He smelt the death on his clothes and he felt all the blood and sweat tight on his body. This was uncomfortable, but he felt pressed up cozily against something, and he slid his eyes downwards and saw hands gently resting over his stomach.

Finland tried to wheeze out, " _Swe…_?"

He could not finish what he had wanted to say. His throat turned to flames and he raised his hands to touch the bandages over his throat. The action made his head woozy, and he sank back limply against him. Sweden's hands snuck up to hold Finland's.

"Don't talk," he murmured, taking away Finland's hands from his throat and placing them over his lap.

Finland closed his eyes again and turned his head over to lay it against Sweden's chest. His vital signs were recovering, but his body felt heavy exhaustion from the energy that had been spent in healing himself. It was soon that Finland felt himself being laid down with a pillow tucked snugly under his head.

The muscles of all in the room released their tension. The stressing period was over. Finland was responsive again for the first time after many hours, blinking his eyes upwards as Sweden covered him with a blanket. Finland rolled over to his side and lifted an arm out from under the blanket to put out in the open air, getting himself comfortable.

Sweden leaned over and mumbled to him, "I'll be right back."

Now that Finland was safe asleep and in the care of others, Sweden went upstairs to the bathroom with Denmark.

Norway and Iceland let Finland be so that he could sleep. However, the others began sighing and exclaiming to each other how glad they were that Finland had been able to pull through. After conversations arising and merging with each other, it became more desired that the cause for Finland's injury be known.

"There was nothing to find in the hole," Germany answered them. "But a wolf was in there, and it attacked Finland."

"Wolf?" Spain echoed. "In a dark hole? Attacking someone?"

"It was a tunnel that went out to the surface, it must have just wandered in to live there. As for why it attacked instead of fleeing, I do not know what caused it to act this way."

"Possessed, perhaps?" Britain joined in.

"Likely. Its home was in such unhygienic condition. Animals carcasses everywhere."

 _Wait, did I just agree with him?_

He quickly changed his mind, saying, "I mean, it must have had some illness."

Britain said, "But ghosts can definitely possess animals, Germany. And humans. This is a possible option."

Germany sighed.

 _I don't want to believe any of this is real. Shadow hands, disembodied whispers, objects moving, rolling skulls… summoning demons, and the Shadow... None of this makes sense. It goes against everything scientific. But… it's true. I don't want to admit it, but it seems impossible to deny. Possessions… based upon everything that has happened in the last three days and nights, I suppose I cannot say truly that it is outside the realm of possibility._

"A demon wolf, perhaps," Germany sighed.

The crowd twitched from fear, but Germany added, "But it is dead now."

"What if there are more?" France asked.

China said, "Hey, I think that there must be."

"Do you think so?" Germany muttered, turning to him.

"Yes. If we think about what Romania said that the previous owner said, then it seems this way. Didn't he mention something about black shapes with yellow eyes running around the graveyard at night?"

"That's right," Japan perked. "And maybe it is not just at night that this happens. Maybe there are always wolves wandering around the forest, but we have not seen them yet."

Britain said, "Well, that would explain the animal corpses everywhere."

"More? Everywhere?" Romano groaned. "Ghosts wasn't enough? Now we have monster wolves running around the forest? What's next? Zombies?"

"Where do we even look now?" Portugal asked. "Are we just back at square one again?"

"There is still more property to explore," Germany replied.

A low mutter came from beside him.

"This is hopeless."

Germany froze. He turned to his side to America, who had spoken.

"What do you mean?" Germany uttered.

America said, "Searching is pointless. This place is so big, it doesn't even matter how much land we cover. The missing people are probably just moved around anyways. Back to places we just searched."

Germany blinked. He had not considered this, only because previously he had believed such a feat to be impossible with the founding of groups and the logbook. However now, as the horror of the situation was becoming apparent to Germany, he felt a blossoming flower of fear in his chest.

"Black magic?" Germany whispered hoarsely.

America dipped his head and gave Germany an odd, uncharacteristic look. His eyes were calculating and rather cool.

"I always thought that it would be easier to figure out the culprit," he said. "Get them to bring us to the missing people. I said this in the beginning, didn't I?"

"But it is hard to gather enough evidence to prove anything," Germany replied.

"Hard? No way man. How about we try it my way for a bit? Maybe if we mix up the strategies, it'll increase our chances of catching the bad guy."

Germany muttered, "And what do you have in mind?"

"Interrogations," America said while spreading his arms open. "Figuring out people's motives, you know? I bet if we do it right, we can get an easy confession!"

Canada murmured, "And how do you plan on getting confessions…?"

His quiet voice was not given any mind. His eyes widened as full display of his shock.

"We can probably get it done this afternoon," America continued. "It'll be easy!"

"Just this afternoon?" Germany asked. "What makes you think that it will be so easy?"

America gave a disbelieving laugh, then replied, "What do you mean? The answer is already obvious. We'll question Russia, because it looks like he has some things to hide. We never did tell you what happened during our little interrogation with him today."

After all that had happened until now, the confrontation with Russia this morning had completely slipped Germany's mind. He had not expected either, that they would discuss this in front of the entire assembly. However, since it had already begun, Germany conceded.

"Alright. What happened then?"

"The dude denied everything. Says that he was never up last night, walking around, touching the quartz, or looking out the window."

All this information was completely new to the others. They stared at Russia warily, uncomfortable with this idea.

"Which is a lie." America smirked. "Because I saw him doing it."

Canada looked alarmed, for he realized that it was coming down to America's word versus Russia's. He could see Russia go rigid and looked at a loss of what to do. Canada likened this situation to an unfair trial of older times with racial preferences.

"No," Russia murmured. "I…"

He was standing up like Germany, America, Britain, Canada, Japan, and China. France sat, not yet a part of this, and Russia briefly glanced over at him and wondered if at least one of the leaders would stand up for him. France's eyebrows were lowered as he considered Russia as severely as the others.

Russia was leaning to the side slightly with his head nearly dropped onto his shoulder. With his arms and thin scarf hanging limply and his knees slightly bent, he looked rather gangly, and weak. Such an appearance made it easier for the others to feel more power over this person that most had been disturbed or frightened by before. He looked too absolutely easy for them to jump upon and tear apart with the power of their words.

Germany growled, "When I asked you this morning, you replied with 'nothing', then later with 'I didn't do anything wrong'. Now you say that you did nothing again?"

Russia's eyes flashed as they widened further. Sweden and Denmark came down the stairs at this time, settling back in among the sitting people and catching onto what was happening. Finland was caught asleep by Sweden, who checked his pulse then watched him calmly breathing. Sweden was not so occupied with the discussion, for Finland here resting with a soft expression made the rest of the world shift out of focus.

He heard Russia respond, "But it's because I…"

As Russia trailed off yet again, Sweden lay over the blanket beside Finland, facing him. He had his back turned to the rest of the people in the room, and the other Nordics were also turned towards Finland, more concerned about him than the current developments.

The supporters for Russia's cause drew thin. The most devoted however, called out, "I can vouch for him! I trust that my brother was doing nothing wrong at all last night. I-"

Germany cut off Ukraine, "Trust? Do you mean that you did not see what he was doing?"

"I know he was out of bed last night," Ukraine said. "But he was only going to occupy himself. He couldn't sleep."

"Couldn't sleep. What a classic excuse." America waved his hand. "More like he was just up to do things."

"This is ridiculous!" Ukraine cried. "You all are so prejudice. Mr. America, you are only letting your grudge against Russia cloud your judgement. You're only looking for whatever excuse you can get to blame him!"

"That may be," Germany said. "But I have to agree that there is reason to interrogate him. And you are unfortunately not making it easy."

"Me? All I am doing is standing up for him when all of you are being so unfair!"

"Let him talk for himself," America said. "You might be surprised by what you hear."

"There is nothing to hear! Russia is not hiding anything-"

"There's no choice." Germany turned to America. "We'll have to separate Ukraine from Russia for this to work."

America nodded. "It might just be better if our group just does it ourselves. Away from the others."

"No!" Ukraine exclaimed.

"Don't worry," Britain said. "If he is innocent like you believe he is, then everything will go over just fine."

Russia's already deathly-pale skin turned a lighter shade, making him look even more sickly.

"I do not want to do this," he said.

"You don't get a choice," America muttered, throwing a needled glare his way.

"But I am not doing this. I am not taking all the people-"

Russia flinched as America stepped up to him, speaking in a voice like cold water over ice.

"If you did all of this, there's gonna be hell to pay, let me tell you, dude."

"Why do you think I would want to do this?"

America lowered his head, his glasses gleaming while his eyes glared into Russia's.

"So many people that you might be responsible for," he muttered. "Prussia, Hungary, Estonia, Britain, Norway, and Finland… perhaps your sister, if you two aren't really working together and you really do hate her as much as it seems."

"Belarus?" Russia choked. "Do you think that I would hurt my little sister?"

"I think you are responsible for everything." America's side-smirk was frigid. "But let's see what you've got to say for yourself, _commie sadist_. I say we skip lunch, and begin your interrogation right now."


	8. Treading on Blurred Lines

_"I know there isn't no beast—not with claws and all that, I mean—but I know there isn't no fear, either."_

* * *

Violet irises quivered. Russia stared up at the three people who had sat him down in the old wooden chair. They stood before him, with crossed arms and eyes narrowed to glare down over him. Russia swallowed and pressed against the back of the chair, waiting anxiously for what was to come.

"Would you like to make it easy and begin with last night?" Britain asked. "And be honest this time. Tell us exactly what you were doing."

"I can tell you," Russia murmured. "But it will only sound like stupid reason. None of you will believe me…"

"Well, try us." Britain shrugged to demonstrate an air of nonchalance and patience.

Russia diverted his gaze as he said, "It was as my sister said. I could not sleep. I was only walking around because I wanted something to do."

"Why would you touch the quartz?" America argued. "You know how important it is. So what were you doing with it? Messing with its power or something?"

Russia glanced up at him, but swiftly flashed his eyes away.

"No… I… only wanted to look at it."

"Twice?"

"I thought it was very beautiful crystal," Russia whispered. "The colour reminds me so much of the scarf Ukraine gave me… the one back home…"

"Really?" America scoffed. "You act suspicious with one of our protective items and that is your excuse? Cute story, but sorry. Not good enough."

"This is why I was not wanting to talk to you," Russia sighed. "I knew that you would not believe me. I did not want to tell you this because I know it looks bad. But I wasn't thinking so much about it… I regret what I did now."

"I bet you do," America uttered.

"What?" Russia blinked. "America, what are you meaning?"

"You know that you messed up. No one was supposed to see you."

"No, no, I was not trying to be sneaky."

"Also, why did you look so much out the window?" America continued. "What did you see out there?"

Russia lowered his head to stare at his hands.

"Nothing."

America exhaled sharply through his nose before he barked, "Hey, look up!"

Russia raised his head, but did not make eye contact.

"Nothing?" America said. "Are you sure?"

"There was nothing."

Britain said, "Russia, look at me and say that again."

Russia hesitantly turned his hollow face towards him. The eyes over the dark curves stamped into his face held a steady, unblinking gaze with Britain.

He said quietly, "There was nothing."

Britain stared at him for a few seconds more. He then turned his head to the others and said, "He's lying."

Russia gasped, "No, I am not-"

"Maybe you aren't an experienced liar." Britain glanced back at him. "Perhaps you are accustomed to twisted truths, or maybe you've lost your touch under stress. Nevertheless, you made a common mistake. You forgot to blink."

Russia raised his hand and pressed his fingertips into the side of his face. He moaned, "No, I was just looking out-"

"You're grabbing your face now. Also a common action when people are lying."

Russia's heart pounded. He slowly lowered his hand and peered up at the three from a slumped posture over his knees. He frowned now, and stayed silent.

Germany muttered, "How about we try that again?"

"I was just looking out the window," he whined.

"Why?"

"I wanted something to do to pass time."

Britain said, "Is that the reason you went to the window?"

"It was-"

"Stop lying."

"It is not a lie!"

Germany tapped the one hedge clipper blade he held impatiently against his leg.

"There is no point in denying it," Germany said. "We've already seen a lot. It is not like you would be doing us a favor by hiding something."

America said, "Don't give him that much credit. He's just keeping quiet because he knows that he was just bringing over whatever he saw."

"No, you have it wrong. I did not summon anything to the house."

"What did you see coming down the path, Russia?" Britain asked.

"Nothing was coming down the path."

The blade continued to tap against Germany's muscular thigh at a constant pattern, like the counted beats of a metronome.

"Was the Shadow there?" Germany asked.

"No."

"Was there a person walking around?"

"No person."

Britain threw out, "Liar."

"I am not lying!" Russia exclaimed, eyes wide. "It was not a person!"

Britain smirked, " _It_ was not a person?"

Russia immediately noticed his slip that had resulted from Britain pulling at his emotions. He said, "I did not mean-"

"Yes, you did." Britain closed his eyes and nodded.

Russia did not know how to recover. His head sunk lower as exhaustion weighed down his eyelids. He did not say anything, and this only irked Germany.

"Come on, tell us what it was!"

"There were…" Russia squeezed his arms to his sides. "Eyes everywhere."

"That's it?" Germany asked.

"A lot of black shapes were running around the trees," Russia whispered. "They went away but then they came back again."

"Is that all?" Germany muttered. "Why didn't you just say that?"

"Because everyone just thinks I am controlling them…" he replied softly, "but I'm not."

"But these shapes," Germany said. "Do you think that they were wolves?"

Russia nodded slightly.

"How many?"

"A lot," he replied. "I am thinking… more than twenty."

Germany groaned, then said, "You should have told us this before. We just found out after that about the possessed wolves here!"

"I am really sorry," Russia said. "I was scared that I would get accused again-"

"You should have said something!" America exclaimed. "If we would have known about them, then we would have been more careful!"

"I'm sorry-"

"One of them nearly killed Finland today! You didn't even warn us?"

Russia frowned, "But it is not my fault that Finland was attacked…"

"Whatever. You wouldn't have cared if he died today." America scowled.

"No, no, it would have been terrible... I would have been sad."

"Yeah right! After that Winter War stuff? You don't like Finland either! You hardly like anyone here!"

"I like people." Russia could not bare look at America's harsh face. "I think… _thought_ that they were my friends…"

"Oh my god, that again?" America sighed. "Dude. No one here likes you. Why didn't you know this?"

Russia tried swallowing the knot in his throat, but it was painfully stuck there.

"Not necessary, America," Britain imputed.

America made a displeased sound of affirmation in his throat.

"So you saw more wolves," Germany went on. "Alright. Now tell us about Norway."

"Norway?" Russia sat up and looked back at him. "I don't understand… I was downstairs the entire time. Why do you think I could have done this?"

"Who remembers seeing you?" America said. "Because I don't."

"Me neither," Britain said.

Germany shook his head.

"I was only lying down!" Russia exclaimed. "That is the only reason!"

"And as usual, it is only Ukraine who supports this?" Germany asked.

The blood drained from Russia's face again.

"No, she is trustworthy! You have to believe her… She would never lie and be a part of this!"

"We know," Britain said.

"What?"

He continued, "Ukraine is obviously out of the question. She is always present, has no connection to black magic, is kind, and could probably not handle the stress of camouflaging in among us."

Germany added, "You on the other hand, seem to be the one taking the stress very badly."

"But…" Russia choked. "It is because I am so afraid..."

"We're all afraid," Britain said. "But no one else looks like you."

Russia's eyes briefly paused over each person in front of him.

"It is not the ghosts that I am afraid of..." he murmured. "It is the people."

"You wouldn't be afraid of the ghosts if you control them, of course," America said. "And you are too scared of being caught, right?"

"No! It is because of what you are doing!" Russia cried. "You won't stop accusing me no matter what I do, so I don't know what I can do with myself! I am trying so hard to stay out of the way, but all you do is find ways to blame me!"

The three interrogators paused. For a moment, they all took the time to consider his words.

Germany thought, _What can we do? Either he is completely innocent and we are in the wrong, or he knows that if he says these things, that we will feel guilty and back off his case._

Britain thought along the same lines, _Should we really stop, if this is the only problem, or is this what he wants us to do? Again, this comes down to the question of is it the obvious answer, or there more levels that we are unaware of?_

America wondered, _Crap. Am I a total douche, or am I right?_

"You are making a conscious effort not to be suspicious?" Germany asked.

Russia nodded slowly, "But maybe I am trying too hard…"

"We'll see," Britain said, "because you do realize that we still have evidence against you?"

"Evidence?" Russia whispered. "What evidence do you really have against me?"

"How do you feel about Belarus?" he asked.

"She is my little sister."

"Doesn't mean much," America said. "You look uncomfortable most of the time whenever she touches you, and I've seen you leave the room when she's come in before."

"Why didn't you react?" Germany inquired.

Russia brought his arms around himself, touching his fingertips gently against his elbows. His chin was lowered and set against the bump of one of his collar bones.

"I don't know," he mumbled.

"You didn't feel anything, did you?" America bent forward to him.

"I… I wanted to cry so much. Then I knew that all of you would want me to cry, then you would not suspect me. I would have cried on my own, but then I felt the pressure to cry, so then the tears would not come out… and the harder I tried to cry, the harder it was… It hurt so much."

"You think about our eyes on you that often then?"-Britain received a nod from Russia- "So is that why you are stressed?"

"Da. I am very scared."

Germany said, "So you say that because of us three, you couldn't sleep last night?"

He nodded all the way through.

America said, "You look way too wrecked after just a single one-nighter."

Russia paused, raised his hands a bit higher up his arms and clutched at his muscles. He looked unsure, with his mouth held shut.

"Ukraine and Belarus said something to you before," Britain said. "We heard them talking to you two days ago. Ukraine asked if you were feeling well. You looked at us during the conversation and then did not wish to continue talking while we were watching."

"Because it is suspicious too, so I didn't want to say the reason."

Germany said, "But you not saying anything is more suspicious."

"Mmm…" Russia clutched at himself harder.

"So…?"

Russia murmured finally, "I haven't slept at all since we got here."

America blinked, "Huh? You haven't slept in four days?

Russia shook his head.

"I can't…" he said with a noticeable tinge of a whimper. "I'm so stressed and I… I just can't. I'm so scared and I can't stop thinking about everything people say to me, or how everyone looks at me now. They want the culprit to be me, and I know that they want to hurt me. They'll do anything to find a bad guy because they want to get out of here. You three do too. I can't sleep because I don't know what's going to happen the next day, who's going to get hurt, how I'm going to get blamed, and how seriously you will take those accusations.

"I thought you were going to hurt me, Germany. Everyone was looking at me in a bad way, and surrounding me. You told me to lie down, but I was so scared that if I had my back to everyone that something would happen. You looked so angry. Something would have happened, right Germany? If Ukraine and Canada hadn't said anything?"

"No," Germany muttered. "I was in control. I wouldn't have harmed you."

Germany dove into the memory of that night before last. After the Shadow had been summoned and removed, he recalled how they began weighing the motives of different people in the room. Romania, Britain, and Norway were crossed off the suspect list, but then the leaders had had no desire to ignore Russia. Britain discussed Russia's probable connection to black magic, and America got the entire crowd riled up by encouraging a hatred for him.

It had been effective. Germany remembered yelling at Russia, and growing extremely frustrated when he did not hit the floor fast enough when commanded. He recalled a sort of mindless, violent urge, and it was to grab hold of flesh and hold it tight.

 _But I would not have done it_ , Germany thought. _I was in control. I was considering what was being said and taking down a possible threat. Yes. I would not have touched him._

"But Germany," Russia whispered. "It looked like you were about to-"

"No, of course not," Germany said.

The look of uncertainty returned to him annoyed him. He knew Russia did not believe him. Germany checked his memory again, searching for proof to support his statement. The result was that certain areas became fuzzy as he blurred them for the sake of believing what he wanted to.

"It would not have happened," he reaffirmed.

Russia glanced down from his face. None of the three realized that his gaze was focused upon the shining hedge clipper blade that had started to tap against Germany's leg once again.

"Denmark though," Russia continued, "I was scared then too, that he wanted to hurt me."

Germany replied, "He would not have done anything. He was not malicious, just emotional. He let go of the weapon right away when Sweden grabbed it."

Britain offered support for this, "You saw him cry right after that. He was not truly angry. He was only sad inside."

"I think the sad and angry emotions are very close to each other," Russia said. "Even if someone is sad, they might still hurt someone because they are not thinking so much."

"Come now," Britain said. "You can't think that we are so crazy."

"But people are starting to act not like themselves," Russia said, "and I am scared."

America breathed out a laugh without humor.

"So we take you up here because we don't trust you, but now you are telling us that _you_ don't trust _us_?"

Another nod. The three standing furrowed their eyebrows and stared at him disapprovingly, feeling that because of what they were currently doing, he did not have the right to direct suspicion right back at them.

America especially did not seem to appreciate being distrusted, for he hurled back, "You don't trust _me_ out of everyone? I'm obviously the good guy! The world's hero! My country's got freedom and rights, and we don't go around bullying other countries and invading them."

"You do though, America," Russia muttered. "You spread your government system around too, and you attack other countries without thinking it through. You are worse than anyone else, but if someone else does something similar, you get angry and you try forcing sanctions. Are you not thinking that this is hypocritical?"

"Dude. America is like, the exception, you know? You other guys are just messing up stuff with your failed governments. People should have the same government as me because it works."

"America's home is not perfect," Russia said. "There is corruption too, because we all have this problem, da?"

"Cha, nobody's perfect dude, I never said that." America shrugged.

"You still shouldn't be getting into every country's business. Not everyone wants your help. When you try saving everyone, sometimes you hurt them more."

"Are you trying to infer something?"

"Enough!" Germany exclaimed. "We're getting sidetracked. Let's get back to the interrogation, shall we?"

Russia dropped his shoulders and head again. He said, "But what else do you want to ask me?"

Britain replied, "We want to know if you are hiding anything else from us. Things that you keep to yourself because you believe that we will find them incredibly suspicious."

"Why would I know anything? I only stay in the main room or I travel in Germany and America's group."

Germany asked, "Has there been anything that you've seen while we were searching? Something that you did not want to tell us?"

"No, I did not find anything special."

Britain watched the muscles on his face. It did not seem to him that Russia was lying.

"Do you know anything at all?" Britain asked. "Where the people might be taken, how they are taken, who is doing it…?"

"Do you think that I would hide those things if I was knowing them?" Russia's eyebrows raised.

America said, "Yes or no question."

Russia's lip pulled to the side as he shook his head.

"Look at me," Germany muttered, "and say the answer."

Russia popped up his head.

"No."

"Say 'No, I do not know anything about what Britain just said'."

Germany arms had been lying limply by his sides for a few minutes. He focused in on every detail of Russia just as Britain was currently doing as well, searching for minute indicators. Russia's hands crept down to cling to the edge of the chair as he continued to stare at them as instructed.

Germany saw below Russia's chin, just above the part of his throat concealed by his scarf, his Adam's apple lift during a swallow. His eyes lowered to Russia's chest, where the tight clothes bound around him clearly showed his form. The black cloth pulled in and pushed out at a rapid pace.

Russia eyelashes fluttered for a second before he said, "No. I do not know anything about what Britain just said."

The three in front of him stared at him for a few moments. Russia fidgeted, then exclaimed, "You don't believe me? But why would I know anything?"

After so many indications, Britain's eyes widened as the conclusion weaved together in his mind. He locked eye contact with Russia, but said to the others, "Good god… He's lying."

Germany had seen it also. His face wrinkled as a flash rage crossed his face before he succeeded in covering it up in order to appear calm and controlled to the others. The micro-expression had shocked Russia into fear, and he sat up against the chair with his hands slightly raised out in front of his chest.

America growled, "You dirty liar. Just when I was about to actually pity you."

Russia's eyebrows launched upwards again as he cried, "No, no! I am not lying!"

Germany slapped the flat of the blade once against his leg as he took a single step towards Russia. He hissed lowly, "What the hell do you know?"

"But I do not know anything!"

Germany took another step closer.

"Where are they?" he demanded.

"I don't know where they are! It is not me who is doing this, I swear it!"

"Maybe not," he leaned in closer to Russia, "but you know something. And it is very important, isn't it?"

Russia turned his head away from Germany, gasping to the side, "But I really don't! All I do is stay with you guys, stay in the main room… I don't know anything! How could I? Please! Ask Ukraine- Can I see her? Let me see my sister!"

Droplets of sweat were now visible on Russia's forehead. One slipped from his temple to scamper down his cheek as he shivered.

"No one else is allowed to be a part of this interrogation," Germany muttered. "It is just you, and us three."

"I want to see her," he whimpered. "I… I…"

"What?" America said with heavy mockery in his voice as he approached Germany's side. "Is it that you're _scared_ , Russia?"

"You're misunderstanding again," Russia gulped. "Please… don't come so close to me."

Russia clenched his eyes together as the tapping sounded on Germany's leg again. His heart pounded and the rush of blood through his exhausted body made him feel woozy. His head dipped to the side again as he tried to control his breathing.

"I think not," Germany's voice began to raise, "so tell me what you know!"

Russia's mouth stretched open then flashed closed again, so swiftly that only one word had had the time to escape.

"Nothing!" he yelped.

Germany's hands smashed down onto the arms of the chair and his face zoomed in to stop just centimetres from Russia's. Russia's eye turned to the side and his pupil dilated under Germany's shadow. He pressed himself in tighter against the chair, pale and weak body trembling harder as he peered at the dark face hallowed by the ceiling light above.

"You better start talking." The breath was against his ear.

"But I'm not sure…"

"Of what?" the whisper growled.

"It's…"

Russia made a high sound in his throat then leaned back over the chair to shake his head.

"You are too angry," Russia whispered. "I can't tell you when you are like this."

"You will tell me now."

"...No…"

" _Tell me!_ "

Russia gasped then clutched a hand to his ear as he startled and stood up abruptly. The chair skidded backwards away from him. The immediate thought that hit Germany was that Russia was trying to escape, so he thrust a hand against Russia's chest, shoving him harshly backwards. Russia tripped over his feet before falling wrong onto the chair, so that his back crashed against its edge.

"Sit down!" he roared.

Russia's hands on the chair arms that were supporting him upwards slid backwards to bring himself back into a seating position. Germany promptly thumped back towards him, and as the sweat dripped from his face, Russia cried, "Mr. Germany, I will tell you! Please- calm down… I will do it…"

Neither Britain nor America were in the mood to intervene. They moved with Germany as the interrogation was relocated a bit deeper into the room, saying nothing to let Germany pressure the suspect.

"I am listening," Germany growled.

"I will tell you," Russia said, "but please... Can we take break first? You are being really scary again. You have that look in your eyes where it looks like you want to be hurting me."

Britain uttered to Germany, "Perhaps we should do this, if he is going to tell us. We can take lunch then resume."

Germany glared forward silently for a few seconds.

Britain added, "He will tell us. Let's calm down for a minute to clear our heads."

The muscles in Germany's face clenched, but then he sighed, "Very well."

America gave Russia a harsh glare that startled him. The cold fury seen in the other's eyes shot a shard of ice that successfully impaled Russia in the heart.

"Probably a stall for time," America said. "Or he's going to talk with Ukraine."

"Keep him up here," Germany uttered. "He cannot contact her until this interrogation is over."

"I do not want to stay here," Russia said. "Please let me come downstairs."

"No."

"I am really hungry," Russia continued. "And I am not feeling so well…"

"I said no," Germany hissed.

Russia stood up with his hands limp at his sides.

"Please, I will not talk to anyone-"

"Sit down."

"Mr. Germany-"

The blade cut the air to Germany's side as he whipped out both his arms.

"That is enough! You will stay in this room!"

"Alone?" Russia whimpered.

"I'll guard him," America muttered as method in answering the question.

"Use the rope," Germany said. "In case he tries to run."

"I can take him," America replied.

Russia had simultaneously said, "I will not run."

He was ignored. His wide eyes beheld the sight of Germany passing the broken hedge clipper into America's grasp before departing. Russia stared helplessly at the doorway he had departed from, although America and Britain were still left here with him.

Germany padded down the stairs from the third floor and came back into the main room. The rope he had coiled under the table was grabbed by a hefty grasp, then slung over his shoulders. He was about to turn from the table when Canada appeared in front of him on the other side.

"Germany, did something happen?" he asked.

"Yes. It appears that Russia does indeed have some important information."

Canada's voice went high with worry, "What do you plan on doing with the rope?"

Germany blinked at him, wondering why such fear had arisen in the other.

"We're just going to restrain him for now."

Ukraine jogged over and placed her hands on the table.

"Restrain him?" she gasped. "Why?"

"He has been uncovered as a liar"- he started up the stairs before he turned slightly back to her- "It seems that you were wrong about him."

He advanced onwards. He did not see her sink against the table to let her head fall into her folded arms. He did not hear her choked whisper of, " _No_ …" or the tears that fell against the white tablecloth.

Back upstairs, Russia protested, "Please no-"

He did not dare resist as Germany wrapped the long rope around and around his body and the chair. Russia's arms became pinned to his side as his entire upper body became enveloped in the scratching thickness that dug into his flesh. The extra length was used to tie the chair to the wooden posts of a heavy, old-fashioned bed.

"No..." Russia whined. He could feel the blood being cut off already from his hands, bringing a tingle to his fingers. He experimented with the binds, trying to move but finding that he was held there extremely and uncomfortably tight. He attempted to pull against the ropes by spreading his arms, but they refused to shift, pull, or tear. Sweat soaked his face as his heart rate increased. He tried pulling harder, panicking when nothing gave in to his struggles. The three watched him squirm with cool expressions, until he collapsed from fatigue.

Russia stared at the floor with his lips partially parted as he quietly caught his breath. He saw black spots in his vision, and his dizziness had increased threefold. He felt adrenaline still pulsing through him, as his fear was given no opportunity to tone down. It only raised drastically for every second he remained helpless due to his self-induced weakness.

America asked, "You'll bring something up for me, right?"

"We will," Germany affirmed.

Russia said, "Can I be getting food too? I am feeling really, really sick now… Please do not be mean to me."

"Sure, man," America said. "We'll give you food after you tell us everything you know."

"Water, anything-please…" Russia's eyes gleamed. "I do not feel good."

At that moment Russia could feel tight pain squeezing his stomach. His consciousness wavered as he felt the urge to vomit and project burning acid from his vacant stomach over the ropes around his chest. He held it off, although the stress only brought him relentless, aching pain.

"I agree with America," Britain said. "If Russia really feels so bad, then withholding these things serves as good encouragement for him to tell us the information as fast as possible."

"Please!" the cry rose from Russia's throat.

Britain and Germany had already turned from him to leave the room.

"No!" Russia wailed. "Don't leave me! Please do not leave me!"

"Give it a rest," America sighed.

Russia locked his eyes on America's form. He shivered as much as the ropes would allow him to, while his sweat tried sneaking through the narrow space between his back and the chair.

America tilted his head and neatly twirled the wrist holding the blade. He walked over to the dresser, hopping up to sit over the smooth, dark wood. It creaked under his weight, but he only sat calmly with his legs dangling over the metal drawer handles.

He tossed the blade into the air and caught it by the handle. He threw it up again, a little higher than the first time, and Russia watched it spin in the air with a racing heart. The consternation overwhelmed him, and the knot tangled back up in his throat once more.

Anxiety scratched his voice as he said, "America, please stop doing that."

"This?" America asked coolly. He cast it upwards and caught it again for a third time. He smiled in dark taste when he noticed Russia's eyes become round and focused on the blade that shone lightly under the yellow light.

"Please…"

America stopped throwing it, instead passing it back and forth quickly between his hands. He looked only forward to observe how Russia trembled.

"We've got you," America murmured to him. "I knew you were guilty. You had a good run though, and you almost had us believing that you were innocent."

America's eyes narrowed as he said this. Russia whined, "Please, put it down."

America continued to utter, "Even I am surprised that you would go this far. I mean, I always knew that you were a psycho, but holy shit, I never knew you wanted to do this."

"I would never do this," Russia whispered across the room to him. "I am not responsible for this at all."

"Liar, liar," America said. "I almost pity you. You look so miserable over there. I never knew you were such a good actor."

Russia watched America run his finger carefully over the edge of the blade. He thrashed against his bounds, exhausting his dwindling energy supply as he cried out, "Put it down! Put it down!"

America blinked and raised his head back up to Russia.

"Huh?"

Russia's head was dipped now and he was emitting low sounds. America slipped off the dresser and padded towards him on soft feet. The closeness of his presence increased the sounds, and America paused when he saw dark stains dotting the rope.

"Oh my god…" America's voice lost its bitterness instantly. "Are you… crying?"

Russia sniffed. America squatted to check his lowered face, and he saw how it had become warmed with red while his eyes rained tears. He stood and came closer.

"Dude?" he asked, unsurely. All traces of hatred and anger had dissipated and his heart now felt heavy.

Russia fidgeted and snapped his head up when America had stepped closer. America went rigid as he watched two tears rush from trepid eyes.

"Please…" Russia choked. "Please…"

America raised the hand holding the weapon to scan over it. He heard a broken inhale from Russia, then his own heart began to thump. He lowered the weapon and looked back over to Russia.

"Wait…" America breathed. "You're actually afraid that I am going to hurt you?"

America's jaw dropped slightly as Russia only stared back and allowed more tears to race down his cheeks and wet the ropes.

"What? No, man…" America whispered. "You really thought…?"

The guilt burst his heart. America backed away from Russia to the dresser, extended his arm, then lowered the hedge clipper down.

"Look," America murmured, "I'm really sorry you feel that way. See? I'm putting it down."

His hand dramatically released the grip so that Russia could easily catch onto the action. Russia sniffed but still stared at the glowing blade. America tapped it a few centimetres from him, and Russia grew quiet.

"You feel better now, right?"

Russia weakly nodded. He felt aching throbs from the burns from the ropes, which scraped his skin and left reds marks whenever he shook. His entire body felt damaged; his pulsing mind, his recent raw cuts, his clenching organs, and his hands even felt stabbed by multiple sewing needles from the loss of blood. His sweat was already turning cold, bringing him discomfort, although his face was hot and simultaneously charring him.

"Hey."

Russia looked into his eyes.

"I'm sorry."

Russia looked down and sniffed again. After a few seconds of silence, America groaned and held his forehead. He shook his head fiercely, his own blue eyes starting to glisten.

"Have I… really been that bad?" America asked. "I didn't mean to… I wasn't trying to.. I didn't want to make you scared of me."

Russia no longer was producing fresh tears, but his pale face with his heavily ringed eyes looked disturbed. America dug his fingertips painfully into his skull, and he shook his head again.

"No, I…"

America paused as he heard footsteps coming down the hall.

"I'll ask them," he said. "I can get you some water, okay?"

His frightened expression diminished slightly and Russia's shaking lessened. America felt better inside to see this, so his shoulders dropped and he stepped away from the dresser and popped into the hall. The question was already forming on his tongue, but then it died instantly.

The hall was empty. America's mouth hung open as he stared down it in shock. It was then that very slowly behind him, he heard the creak of the door. He whipped his head back and saw it drift slowly towards him, then emit a simple click when it calmly closed shut.

"Oh, no, no, no!" America yelped. He whipped around to grab the door handle, to get into the room with the weapon and to where Russia was currently tied up and defenseless. Something froze his muscles however, and he gasped as his hand was stuck hovering over the door handle. Weariness overcame America, hitting him as a hard wave. He felt his energy draining, and he concentrated with everything he had in reaching for that door handle. It lowered, centimetre-by-centimetre, and he clenched his teeth while staring down with huge eyes.

"America!" He heard Russia cry. "There is something in here!"

America's jaw was heavy and numb; he tried to speak, but only a weak noise escaped through his teeth.

 _What is happening?_ America's heart was the only thing that moved rapidly in a slow-motion world.

His fingertips grazed cool metal.

" _America!_ " Russia's voice had risen to a shriek. " _It's coming towards me! Help me- I cannot move! Please!_ "

 _I'm coming, I'm coming!_ America's mind flashed with the words he so desperately wanted to yell to him. His mouth stretched open wide, but the only thing it could do was let out a long, hysterical scream. At this moment he related to the complete helplessness that Russia had felt in those ropes before, for he had become utterly overwhelmed with fear from his inability to move.

He did not know from his focused struggle to grab the door handle, that a full-bodied mist had floated out from the wall and was heading towards him.

" _America! Don't leave me! Please!_ "

Tears of fear streaked down his face. He had the door handle now held tightly in his hand, and he leaned forward to use his body weight to push the lever down. Russia's words had changed to a throaty scream, as inside the room he fought madly against his ropes while a black shadow came closer, now half than a metre from him.

The door clicked and America stumbled into the room. He glimpsed the black shape in front of Russia, but he was already sprinting to the iron weapon he had left on the dresser. He snatched it and raced across the room, where the shape was over him with its black hands placed on his shoulders.

America was still screaming as he sliced the air with the hedge clipper's blade. A moment before it touched the shadow ghost, it disappeared to let the blade hack empty air. Russia was all that was left before him, bleeding under the ropes and sobbing profusely.

Russia wept, "I-I thought y-you were going to l-l-leave me…"

"No…" America whispered. "I would never do that."

He was already working on untying Russia's ropes. He heard Russia sniff loudly, then cry, "There's something behind you!"

The doorway was filled with a full-bodied, white mist. America yelled, diving forward with the blade raised. He severed it through the abdomen, and it disappeared without a single exclamation of pain. He hurried back to Russia, finishing undoing the thick knots tied to the bedposts then unraveling the rope around Russia coil-by-coil.

Russia felt the pain subside as each biting piece of rope left him. America's eyebrows shot up in surprise when he caught sight of the raw, red gashes on Russia's wrists that oozed red droplets. He then saw the wet spots on black cloth, understanding that those wounds carried up the lengths of his arms and covered his front.

"I'm so sorry, Russia," America moaned. Russia sat before him, still weeping and quivering. It did not appear as though he was going to move on his own. America came close to him, reaching out to him with the intention to help him stand. Hands snatched his arms and pulled him in. America let out a quick yelp when he was suddenly enveloped in Russia's arms.

He could feel Russia's chest moving rapidly in and out as he struggled to breathe. America's head fell over his shoulder, and his face was pressed lightly against Russia's, allowing him to feel the hot skin that had a coat of tears over it. This physical contact pieced everything together for America, and now he could no longer doubt at this time that Russia's fear and suffering were real. Regret stabbed America deeply, as he realized how this tortured person begged to be comforted. He placed his arms around Russia, hugging him back.

"Let's go downstairs," America whispered. "I'll get you water and lunch. You can rest, alright? I'm really sorry for what we did."

Russia's breathing calmed and his crying lightened. He did not seem to want to break the hug just yet, but America retracted himself to glance over his shoulder nervously. Footsteps were pounding towards the doorway, although this time Germany and Britain appeared in the room.

"What happened?" Germany demanded. He glared at the collapsed rope around the chair.

"There was a ghost attack!" America exclaimed. "It was crazy! I was locked out of the room and I couldn't move, then Russia-"

Russia sniffed and trembled beside him. America changed his course, saying, "We have to take him downstairs. We went too far."

Germany and Britain stared wondrously at Russia's tear-stained face. During their hesitation, America helped Russia from the chair and encouraged him to stand. Russia wavered on his feet for a moment, before he promptly collapsed and crashed on his side on the floor. America was there instantly, kneeling and collecting him. Russia's eyelids flickered and he held onto America for support.

Russia whispered shakily, "I feel really sick…"

America ducked under his arm so that it was now wrapped around his neck. He stood up with Russia leaning heavily into him. Britain stepped forward to collect the weapon, and he and Germany followed America out of the room without protest.

Ukraine was the first to see the group coming down the stairs. She hollered, raced back to the table, crying, "What did you do to him?"

Everyone raised their heads and could immediately tell that Russia had been crying, although he had now since stopped. They gawked in surprise, and America took Russia around the table to his sleeping area under all of their eyes. He set him down, where Ukraine was already furiously stomping towards them. America stood up and backed off while Ukraine fell into Russia to embrace him protectively.

As she glared over Russia's shoulder at him, he said, "We didn't hurt him, I promise. Ghosts attacked us though."

Ukraine's eyes were drained of their anger, and she dropped her eyes down over Russia's back as her hands began rubbing soothing circles there. She then raised one hand and slipped her fingers into his hair, cooing softly to him comforting words in her language. He leaned into her and closed his eyes.

China and Japan had done what had been instructed to them. They came over to Russia, bearing water and the plate of steamed vegetables and spaghetti noodles that had been saved for him. Ukraine let him go, allowing him to take the plate. He gave it a nervous expression for a split second, before he stabbed the fork into a piece of cauliflower. He quickly discovered his hunger again, and he heartily dug into the small pile of food despite the remorseless looks still upon him.

Lithuania asked, "What happened during the interrogation?"

The three interrogators looked at each other before Germany nodded and Britain replied, "We only found out so far that Russia saw more wolves running around outside last night, although he says there is one more thing that he wants to tell us."

"More wolves?" Denmark cried. Sweden's eyes narrowed and he sat up, joining the other three Nordics in a sort of protective ring around Finland.

"More?" Lithuania asked with interest. "About what then?"

"Something concerning the missing people," America said. "But we're taking a pause first."

"Why?" Poland piped up from Lithuania's side. "If it's important, then why aren't we like, asking him what it is right now?"

"We had some drama and ghost problems," America replied. "So we need to chill for a minute before we get the news."

Switzerland muttered, "I thought we didn't have time for that."

"We'll get the information," Germany said. "But we have to be considerate. We're not a lot of savages."

France asked, "But what happened to his wrists?"

Russia put the plate down and reached for the glass of water. He checked the faces watching him from the corner of his eye as he drank.

Germany said, "We had him tied up. It was the ropes."

"They must have been too tight," Canada commented. "He's bleeding."

"We won't do it again unless he tries running," Germany sighed. "It was a mistake."

When Ukraine lay down, Russia promptly entered her open-arm invitation and snuggled into her. He lay on his side then put his head over her shoulder, closing his exhausted eyes. His arm went over her abdomen and cradled her side, and she had her arm between the bent wings of his back, to give him calming pets again.

The others continued talking.

Austria said, "Let's just get the information now! Just share it with us, because I want to know where Hungary is!"

"I don't think he knows that answer," Canada said.

Britain said, "We can't be certain. He knows something for sure, however. It's got to be something that will help us."

"Ask now then!" Lithuania exclaimed. "If he knows something, why are we waiting when we never waited for anything before?"

Germany felt this way as well. He had wanted to at least pretend to be ethical, but perhaps he had done enough of that to ease Russia's tongue. He turned to his suspect, then immediately frowned. He walked over to Russia and Ukraine.

"Up, now," he muttered. "You've had your break."

Russia creaked open his eyes then peered up at Germany. He slowly got up, although he did not feel safe leaving Ukraine's side, so he touched against her as she sat beside him.

"You are not angry, are you, Germany?" Russia asked.

"No," he uttered impatiently. "So tell me what you know. Now."

"I am really not sure…" Russia said. "I only have a guess. I wanted to tell you earlier, but you wouldn't let me be a part of the investigator group."

"Investigator group?" America asked.

"There is a group," Russia nodded. "It is Germany, Britain, America, and Canada… France was there in the beginning, but he is not really so much in it anymore. I think you kicked him out because he was becoming scared? He doesn't fit in anymore."

France blinked rapidly in surprise at the words being said, and the other four original leaders stared back in confusion.

Russia continued, "Japan and China are a part too, because Germany is trusting them... Germany is a little higher in rank… So he also chose Italy and Japan to be with the children with Canada because he trusts them. Japan and China are like the healers… they are trusted and they help everybody when you tell them too."

Germany asked, "Where are you getting all this from…?"

"I am awake so much," Russia murmured. "It is all I can think of. The people in the strong group do not like me, so I am worried. I want to be trusted, but the more people who join the strong group, the less you want to be trusting me. Anyone not in the group is not listened to. I think the Nordics are in it now? Or just Denmark, Sweden, and Finland? You let them carry weapons, so you must trust them, da? If they listen to you now, Germany, they are like the group's officers. They follow orders and do the violent things."

"Officers? Violent things?" America asked.

Russia said, "They are the saddest and angriest. Four people are missing, but their friends are here scared and hurt beside them. They want revenge, do you not think so too? They think one of us purposely hurt Norway for no other reason but just to hurt him. Denmark was scary yesterday because of this.

"Everyone wants answers, so they are blaming me. I heard that we have one week supply of food? Hmm. It is day four now. First night Prussia is taken, then the second day it is Hungary. Night three is Belarus, then the fourth night is Estonia. Between these days, it is Britain, Norway, and Finland who are injured. Everything is turning so crazy so fast, but the people are too. The time limit is putting on a lot of the pressure."

The so called "Investigator group" was demonstrating a lot of interest in how Russia had noted these details so precisely. The "Officers" peered over attentively, the "Healers" cocked their heads, and France exhaled softly while stroking the scruff of his face.

"I wondered..." Russia said. "If the people taken were not random. If every person captured had a purpose."

"Purpose?" Germany's eyes were clear and open, interested and no longer viscous.

Russia replied, "I think that there is a pattern."

Everyone in the room stared at Russia while their brains weighed what had been said.

"How are these people related?" Britain asked. "It all has seemed random until this point. The only similarities I've noticed is that one person from each group has been affected in some way. Is that not it?"

Russia shook his head, "I was thinking that it was more than that."

"Then what do these people have in common?" Canada asked.

"Ah…" Russia frowned. "I… I am still not certain but… the reason makes it look like I am the bad guy."

"Tell us," Germany snapped impatiently.

"Yeah, because I don't get it," America said while Russia tightened his lips. "How are Prussia, Hungary, Britain, Belarus, Norway, Estonia, and Finland related?"

"No… Just the missing people," Russia said. "Prussia, Hungary, Belarus, and Estonia."

"Why?" America asked.

"Well, Britain hurt himself, and I think Finland was an accident. Then maybe… maybe the reason Norway was hurt was to throw us off and be getting the Nordics upset. I think if the person really wanted to, they could have taken Norway, but they did not because they were not wanting to…?"

"He was a part of a plan?" Denmark snarled.

"Impressive deductions," Britain said. "You made good use of your time."

Russia rubbed at his sore eyes before continuing, "So if I am right, then I know who is going to be targeted next."

"Whoa, really?" America exclaimed.

Germany growled, "Stop holding it off. Just tell us already!"

"It is not me…" Russia said again. "Please don't think this. I do not want to be hurting anyone no matter what."

"Spit it out!" Germany barked.

"The person seems to be targeting the former Soviet states and its satellites." Russia flashed his eyes over the odd masks facing him. "So the next to go might be Lithuania, Latvia, Ukraine, Poland, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria, or me..."

"What? The members of the Soviet Union?" America exclaimed.

"And the satellites I think…" Russia repeated. "Because they took Hungary."

"The Soviet aligned countries?" Germany growled. "So-"

"No, Germany!" Russia gasped when he saw those blue eyes becoming half-lidded from the eyelids that narrowed in suspicion. "I do not want revenge for everyone leaving me… I know it looks this way, but it is not me!"

"But it _is_ a motive," Germany uttered.

"It is only a guess…" Russia replied. "There is a big chance that I am wrong. Not many people are missing, so I am not completely sure if this is just accident or not."

"It seems plausible," Britain said.

The reactions were not so angry, but Russia was once again nervous by the multitude of eyes analyzing him. Desiring to fill the silence, Russia said, "I am sorry that I do not know where they are… but last night I was thinking and then I thought of this. It is helpful? You are not angry at me?"

Germany _hmm_ ed, but it was hard to bring back the fury he had had before. The investigation of Russia today seemed to only reveal a misjudged innocent, if his fear and tears had been convincing enough. For this moment, it was.

"No," Germany said. "I want to thank you for your contribution."

"Can I be in the group?" Russia asked.

"What?"

"The group with-"

"Oh, ah…" Germany remembered Russia's classifications. "Sure."

"Really?" Russia perked, relief crossing his face and hope filling his gaze. "You will be listening to me? You won't accuse me?"

"Well…" Germany said. "I cannot say that no one is going to accuse you. After all, anyone is accusable."

Russia frowned, but then asked, "You won't be scary anymore to me, right? Mr. Germany and everyone else will be nice to me? I haven't done anything wrong. I am only wanting to help."

"We won't hurt you," America replied.

Britain said, "Get a good rest today. You don't need to worry anymore."

Russia was bursting with energy despite how his body was worn and begged for rest. The happiness overwhelmed him, and he exclaimed with a cheerful ring, " _Da! Spasibo! Spasibo!_ Ah, this is such good news to hear!"

"Unless there is anything else you know," Germany said lowly.

Russia paused his mini celebration. His head tilted like that of a confused pup.

"What? You think that I am still hiding something?"

"Can you reaffirm this?"

He was crestfallen in an instant. Russia's eyes filled with wet sorrow and his shoulders sagged as he realized that the interrogation had never ended.

"I promise that I do not know anything else," Russia sighed. His eyes slid away from Germany.

His body's movements were completely different than before when he had been concealing something. Germany was fairly certain this time that Russia was telling the truth.

"Please," Ukraine said, "can you finally clear him of suspicion like you did with the others? You have nothing against him."

Germany checked over Russia once more for any revealing indicators. Russia blinked back at him with soft eyelashes closing over worried violet. Germany gave in, and said, "Alright, Russia. You are clear."

Latvia quivered and still stared at Russia unsurely. He looked around himself, then to Lithuania, who had lowered eyebrows as he stared across the room in contemplation.

"Lithuania," Latvia whispered, "can we get a spot in the middle? I don't think we should stay in the outside anymore, if-if what he says is true…"

"Yeah, yeah," Lithuania murmured.

"Could you ask?"

Lithuania nodded again and ignored the follow-up question. Latvia was shocked by how Lithuania was acting, and Latvia swallowed as the dismissal crushed his heart.

"What's the problem, Lithuania?" Latvia whispered to him again.

Poland heard the words. He turned as Lithuania did, to look down at Latvia.

Lithuania's hardened face dropped finally, and he gave him a small, peculiar smile.

"Nothing. I'm just being paranoid… Everything's alright."


	9. Descending Inferno

_Now out of the terror rose another desire, thick, urgent, blind._

 _"Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!"_

* * *

His thumb smoothed over the blood-crusted gem as the stream of water crashed over the pendant and his hand. Germany watched black flakes crumble away and float in the lake before being caught in the drain's whirlpool. Purple and gold shone back to life, however the beauty was maimed by the indents of fangs; its perfection was now severed along with the chain.

He was the last of the group to leave the bathroom. Russia had showered before him, and was now standing beside Ukraine, France, and Japan, with a towel wrapped around his waist. The blood-speckled and sweat-drenched costume was wrapped over an arm, ready to be donated to the washing machine. Now that his upper body was exposed however, the pink scrapes that slashed across his arms and chest could be seen, allowing a heavy weight of guilt to settle in Germany's gut. The ropes burns were not serious, but they were many.

Germany was soon found kneeling among the sitting Nordics. Finland was sleeping with pink cloth around his throat, although Sweden emerged from the blankets to sit at attention.

"I do not know how you feel about this," Germany sighed as he shoved his hand into his pocket then opened up his fist in front of Sweden to reveal the mangled pendant, "but I found it in the tunnel."

Sweden said nothing, but he held out his open palm. Germany flipped his hand so that the amethyst necklace dropped into Sweden's. Germany glanced at Norway, before he stood and backed away from them. Sweden then looked down into his hand at the purple gem attached to a broken chain as the memory of watching Finland clip it around his own neck flashed in his mind's eye.

It no longer had the look of a holy object that he could pour all his hope into. It had before, but now it was but a sad lie curled up in his hand. He glared at it, only thinking of how it had failed to save Finland from the descending, yellow fangs. He leaned to the side to drop it carelessly onto the hardwood before he considered what would actually protect those important to him: his own two hands. These weapons slipped away to continue their duty of caring for Finland, checking his pulse, adjusting the blanket, and very so gently grazing the knuckle of a hooked finger over his cheek. Buttermilk silkiness under his touch. He realized that there were creatures, and perhaps people, who wanted to pierce this skin and soil it with malformed blossoms of blood. Rage simmered within; it was not ready to be released, although it was undoubtedly there.

Romania was approached by Germany, America, and Britain next. He was not ushered anywhere far away and isolated this time, instead just relocated to the corner of the sleeping area to the area of the Investigators. Canada could now readily hop in with the interrogators, and France slid up to Britain's side to be a part as well.

They whispered to him so that it would be difficult for others to join in the conversation and corrupt it with powerful emotions. This interrogation would not be announced either, in order to keep the others' attention away, allowing them to continue talking with each other about the things they longed for outside of this house.

America said, "I already got a good question. I was wondering if there is any difference between the white misty ghosts and the shadow ones."

"You could have asked me that," Britain sighed.

"But these ghosts are all… they have a 'we're out to get you all' vibe. Why are they like that here?"

"First," Britain replied, "shadow ghosts are believed to be deceased persons who are stuck here after death. The blackness does not represent negativity, although they seem to like darkness more than light and often use it to hide in. The ones who perhaps do not have such a desire to hide, appear as white apparitions."

Romania nodded, and said, "What we have here are some serious poltergeists. The ghosts that move things and mess with the people. Physical disturbances."

"That's just putting it cheaply," America murmured, "but seriously, why do they want us so badly?"

"I'd say the Shadow from before is a demon," Britain said, "considering its appearance, negative desires, and interference with the summoning."

Romania added, "But I don't know why the ghosts are so interested. My guess is that the ghosts carry on their routines years alone in the house until living people arrive. It might take them some time to realize the difference, and then that is when they begin acting strange."

Germany said, "You said that you've been here for a week, although it reportedly takes two weeks for a reaction to spark. We've seen interaction with some of us on day two here, increasingly more as the days go by. But again, that was barely over a week."

"Rough estimate?" Romania shrugged. "I don't know why they snapped out of it so fast."

America continued to ask, "I've never heard of ghosts doing what they are doing now, controlled or not by a person. Grab someone and make them disappear? Stab someone somehow? I don't even know what that shadow ghost I saw was going to do to Russia. It was holding onto him until I got rid of it, and then I turned around and another one was sneaking up on me. They follow us now, you said it happened to you and Finland, Romania. But what will happen if you let them get too close?"

"I don't know," he replied, "these ghosts are normal. If this land is doing something to them, I can only imagine that it would intensify their desires."

"And what do they want?" Germany asked.

Romania sat calmly. He raised his shoulders slightly, leaned his head to one side, and blinked at Germany.

"I don't know what they want."

* * *

Japan and China were cleaning the kitchen before they prepared the next meal that would soon come. From the dishwasher they extracted the dry and shining dishes, piling them in stacks on the counter for usage. Utensils were left for now, their mixed jumble disorganized and undesirable. The cups were removed one-by-one from the wash tower to as well be left out.

Japan removed the two large kitchen knives and took them to the knife holder. He slid them into their slots, but after they had been placed in among the others, he noticed one empty slot remained. He turned and checked the dishwasher, but the little small knife he had used earlier was nowhere to be found. China was immediately informed of this, and the two of them raced from the kitchen to pass on this news to the Investigators.

Romania was already leaving the group when Japan's feet stopped beside Germany.

"We have a problem," Japan said, "someone has stolen a knife from the kitchen, but I just noticed it now. I think it might have been taken any time since yesterday morning when I used the knife and left it to be cleaned."

"A knife?" Germany jumped to his feet. "We need to search every person!"

"It is unlikely that anyone would keep the weapon on them," Britain commented.

"It must be done regardless," Germany said. "Remove all blankets and pillows. Search the room!"

The other four sprang to their feet to begin this. As that conversation had not been under whispered tones, all had caught onto the words. They rose to their feet, looking as though they were able to begin helping with the search, before Germany barked out an order.

"No! Everyone in a line. I don't want the culprit pretending to search and leaving their knife still hidden."

They reluctantly peeled away from the sleeping area and stood by the table, still within the boundaries of the salt circle. Germany stalked up to the first person, Switzerland, and immediately received a furious protest the moment his hands were laid upon him.

"It is only necessary," Germany told him. "We will do this to everyone."

At that moment, America, France, Britain, and Canada were overturning pillows, throwing blankets into the air, and lifting the mattresses up. Iceland and Norway stood up at glared at the Investigators as they came closer, Denmark crouching and doing the same while Sweden stayed lying alongside Finland.

"You'll have to get up and join the line," France said. "I know it doesn't seem right, but we have to."

Iceland and Norway wandered away, with Iceland holding a bitter expression and Norway lifting a hand to fix the cloth around his face. Denmark stood, wavering between staying with Sweden and Finland or obediently following Norway and Iceland. Sweden rose to sit and give a cold stare to the one who had spoken while blankets still draped his shoulders.

"He has to get up," France murmured.

Something heated behind Sweden's eyes. It was as though a cone of flame had popped up from a stove, small for now, but as easy to intensify as the turn of the wrist on the knob.

"He is asleep," Sweden uttered.

"I know but… he needs to get up."

"He would not do this."

"We're just being fair," Britain stepped in. "Everyone needs to be searched. I will be searched."

"It's only for a moment," Canada soothed, "he'll be alright. He can rest all he wants afterwards too."

The flame was extinguished. Canada had been one of the ones to help treat Finland, and Sweden did not forget this. He turned, leaned over, and softly rubbed his hand over Finland's shoulder. Finland did not react to this, so Sweden carefully dug his arm under Finland's body and lifted him into a sitting position. Finland's head fell against Sweden's chest, then he emitted a confused _hmm?_ where he creaked open his eyes a crack before dropping them shut once again.

"Wake up," Sweden lowered his face and murmured by his ear.

Finland stirred and raised his head.

"Wha…?"

He had forgotten about his throat, so Finland was now holding a hand over his makeshift bandages while pain crossed his face. Sweden held under his armpits, and helped him get to his feet. It was made clear immediately that he would not be able to keep himself upright on his own, so Sweden offered a crooked, raised arm for him to grab onto with both hands. They shuffled over to the line, and now that they had moved, Denmark did as well.

Every person had reversed their pockets and had allowed to be pat down like they were going through high airport security. Germany had found nothing on these people, and the four behind him who had torn up the sleeping area had nothing at all. The next they could do was check each other in front of the others. They found nothing, but succeeded to prove to the viewers that they were not so hypocritical.

"Thought so," Germany sighed. "It was just wishful thinking. The culprit hid the knife somewhere in the mansion."

"Who could have taken it?" China asked. "You don't let many people in there. It is usually just me, Japan, Italy, Canada, or America!"

The mentioned were all people Germany trusted thoroughly. He furrowed his eyebrows, and wondered if there had been anytime where someone needed to get water. They might have succeeded in taking the small knife then.

 _Unless they snuck in at night. Risky move, but if no one saw them, then..._

They were all permitted to return to their sleeping areas and fix the mess that had been created. Things settled back to how they were before, and the interrogations continued quietly in the corner. Hours passed with just waiting around, as every once in a while someone was called up for their turn. Some people slept, some chatted about their distant happinesses, and others wanted some paper and one of the leftover pencils from the scavenger game so they could draw. The children had their books, but there were extras that they had already finished, which some had taken to dive into. Only dedicated readers such as Latvia succeeded in temporarily cutting himself off from reality to immerse himself in the book's world. He could see the scenes in his head like a movie, and he could hear the voices of the characters that he had imagined up, their voices replacing the ones he heard around him.

This book was short, so it did not take long for Latvia to be well into it before dinner was served. Once he had set it down to sit beside Lithuania and Poland to eat, was he given any attention.

Lithuania looked at the book cover once again, then back at Latvia.

"You're reading Lord of the Flies?"

Latvia swallowed while nodding, before he said, "Yeah."

"Have you read it before?"

"Yes, of course! But I just like it so much that I thought it would be nice to read again. It is so interesting!"

"You think so?" Lithuania asked. "I thought this too when I read it, but I am still wondering how realistic it really is."

"I think it is," Latvia shrugged. "I mean, when no one is around to tell the children what is right or wrong, they forget a little, right? Or they justify everything so they don't feel like anything is their fault. It is such a human response, yes? The brain tries to protect itself from guilt?"

"Yes," Lithuania agreed. "But that one part, where the children turn so savage and kill that one kid… I forget his name now- it doesn't seem right. I feel like they would have known who they were attacking, because I believe that you just cannot become so blind to that."

"It was the dance," Latvia explained. "They were so excited to have killed that pig; they felt so powerful and bloodthirsty."

"I still don't know," Lithuania sighed.

Poland blinked at them, then finally asked, "What are you talking about?"

The conversation ended there. The three did not talk for the remainder of the meal, and then afterwards, Latvia was back to where he had left off. He had made use of a sticky strip of paper already marked between the pages, as a bookmark. He had encountered many of these small, neon pink, yellow, or green paper bits stuck in many spots in the book, and he found another when he turned to the next page. Here again, he found that someone had underlined some quotes in the text. This was done on any page containing one of the sticky pieces of paper.

The book looked as thoroughly studied as a novel given to a diligent high school student for language class usage. The key quotes were located, perhaps fully memorized by the person who had underlined them. Latvia wondered if Romania had done this, considering that this classic was more recent, and that this one was in English for a curious reason. Then again, the other books that they had taken from the library to the front were also in English, so he assumed that perhaps the previous owners were not monolingual Romanians and this could explain it. When Latvia considered the type of person who he believed Romania to be, he did not think that this would be something he would do with a book.

Latvia finished off the novel that night and put it back in the pile, not finding any importance in his discovery.

* * *

Day five had arrived. All had risen with the sun, and breakfast was prepared. Germany marched into the kitchen with China and Italy, and he threw open the cupboards then the fridge. He anxiously flashed his eyes over the meager amount that remained, and he whirled around to the two who had been standing behind him and regarding the supplies as well.

"I thought we had enough…" Germany murmured.

China asked, "Is there a problem, Germany?"

"This was supposed to last us a week," he replied. "But it looks like we only have enough for today and…."

He swallowed uncomfortably as his stress increased. He closed the fridge door as he turned to the other two.

"... And tomorrow," he concluded.

"What? But you are always so good at keeping track of things!" Italy exclaimed. "How could this happen?"

Germany replied, "The only explanation I can come up with is that someone has been stealing food."

"But how?" China asked. "It is always more than one of us in the kitchen at a time. And we would have heard someone sneaking around the kitchen to eat at night, wouldn't we? At least someone would have woken up to hear it!"

"My guess is that the person who was able to steal the knife unnoticed is responsible for the disappearance of the food as well," Germany groaned, then slapped a hand against his forehead, "We lost a day! We needed all the time we could get, and now we only have one day left after today!"

Italy jumped in, "Is there any way we can find more food?"

Germany sighed, "I already considered that, but there are no animals in the forest to trap because they are all dead. I suppose we could resort to scavenging for plants, but with all that has been going on, who knows what would happen if we eat anything here?"

"Let's ask Britain and Romania about it," China said. "If we can eat the plants without any problems, then we can probably last a bit longer! I know there are a lot of dandelions in the cemetery that we could pick."

"And it's November, so there's got to be nuts lying around!" Italy said.

"Yeah," Germany looked relieved. "That could work. We could send out groups to gather food, and then that would get more searching done at the same time."

Germany exited the kitchen. He stared out over the room full of risen heads that faced the kitchen expectantly, knowing that the hunger that had begun to suck in their abdomens was what filled their eyes with lust. He could see their desperation; their animalistic want prowling inside them, barely concealed by their patience. He did not want to share the news of the missing food with them, in case that their patience did snap to release those vicious beasts.

He was disappointed to find that Britain had a tinge of this look in his eyes as well. However, the calm face he had owned since the beginning of the game still remained. Germany quietly explained the situation to him, but Britain's patience did not break, and he remained placid.

"If the plants do not have strange shapes, colours or odors," he replied, "Then we should be alright."

"Can we take the plants from the cemetery?"

"We can try them and see what happens as long as we are careful at first."

For the first time in the past few days, Germany felt a burst of hope. He imagined all the things that they could find in the forest, and how this could drastically raise the number of days they had to find Prussia and the others. In addition, he felt that the food that had been stolen must have been taken to feed the missing people, which implied that they were still alive.

He cleared his throat as he now stood before them all. All eyes glanced up at him.

"Today we will continue searching the forest," he said. "But not just to find the missing people. We will be collecting edible plants to resupply our stocks."

The idea of searching the seemingly haunted forest for food did not throw them off like Germany had believed it would. The hungry creatures inside of them only perked their ears with interest. Even the ones who were quick to strongly oppose him, such as Vietnam and Switzerland, did not protest against this development. It was accepted without any input from any in the room.

A few had been late to hear the announcement. Romania, Bulgaria, and Moldova returned from upstairs, and a few minutes later, Sweden was seen helping Finland slowly down the stairs. Finland padded down each stair one-by-one, placing both feet down on the same stair before moving down to the next. His arms were spread out, with one hand clinging to the railing and the other holding Sweden's arm. His mobility was more independent than yesterday when he had obtained his injury in the morning. Canada especially was amazed to see how rapidly he was recovering, when he had believed before that he would not make it through those uncertain few hours after the attack.

As Sweden and Finland settled down by the mattresses topped with micronations, Iceland sat behind Norway in the process of undoing the knot of his bandage. Denmark sat in front of him, waiting for the white to drop and for the wound to be revealed. When it did, he looked at Norway tranquilly, with a small smile pulling the corners of his lips.

"It's looking a lot better, Nor…" he breathed.

The eyelids were no longer torn, but now assuming their normal form with just bright white lines across each one. The lines joined together when he blinked, flashing like a bolt of lightning. His eye was no longer so red, and the iris was pieced back together with a thick line cutting it in half diagonally.

The people closest to them peeked over to get a look at Norway's eye. Canada slid over, and found the same relief that he had just received in seeing Finland's spectacular recovery. Both Nordics were taking a turn for the better when it had not looked like it would at all before.

"I think you'll get it back," Denmark whispered as he came closer to embrace Norway, "Your eyesight, I mean."

"I hope so," Norway murmured as he slowly slid his arms around him.

Norway looked over to Iceland, who had crept around to Denmark's side. Iceland examined his eye, then said, "You will."

Normally such optimism was not found in Iceland. Norway felt further comfort from his words as he drifted away from Denmark's arms. Iceland picked up the bandages, but Norway touched his hand.

"I don't need them," Norway said. "They are not going to help me."

Iceland nodded, and left them. Denmark froze as he realized that now he would have no choice but to stare at the scar every time he gazed upon Norway's face, where it plainly showed where someone had plunged in a knife. A revolting blend of sorrow and rage overwhelmed him for a few seconds until he collapsed inside and desired nothing else than to settle down beside Norway and comfort him. Sweden was the closest to Finland, and although Denmark felt these powerful emotions when he saw the bandages around Finland's throat, Sweden had already adopted a role like that of a guardian angel.

"I'll go out today," Norway said. "I can be of better use out there finding food then if I just stay in here and do nothing."

Iceland said, "You are hurt."

"I feel a lot better," Norway said. "And at least I can give the group an extra eye if I go out…"

"You would be safer here," Sweden looked up and over at him. "Nothing'd sneak up on you."

"I'll move my head a lot," Norway replied. "I won't let myself have a blind side."

"Are you sure?" Denmark asked. "It's not safe out there…"

"I'll take care of myself. Besides, my group is still large so they could help me if something was to happen, although I doubt anything will."

"You coming out, Sweden?" Denmark asked. "Because with Fin injured and the kids here… it's just the two of us."

"I'm going to stay."

"Ah," he shrugged, understanding the reason. "I'll join in with some other group then. Romania's maybe? If all of that group is really on the target list, I suppose I could follow them with the scythe. Protect them from the culprit."

America walked over with two plates, which Iceland and Norway took. Sweden roused Finland, who had begun to doze the moment he had been laid down again. Finland rose into a seating position as more food came around. He stared down anxiously; the hunger felt as though it was ripping the tissues in his stomach, although his aching throat could barely handle sips of water yesterday. He had missed dinner the night before, and now he was feeling increasingly weaker.

"Little bits," Sweden murmured, although Finland was already capturing slivers of food on his fork to tentatively swallow.

Further away from the center, near the table and border of the salt circle, Ukraine had two plates of food beside her. She leaned over to Russia, who was quiet and lying on his side.

"Wake up," she murmured.

He remained unresponsive. She shook him harder, and he rocked back and forth but did not react.

"Hey!" she said louder. "Breakfast is here. You have to wake up."

She pinched his ear. When nothing happened, she reached forward again, dug in her nails, and twisted. She waited a few seconds, then let go and grabbed his side. She shook him harsher, crying, "Russia, wake up, please! You're starting to scare me!"

Germany, Canada, and America hurried over.

"What is the problem?" Germany demanded.

"I can't wake him," she moaned.

Canada slid to her side and pressed two fingers over Russia's throat. He could feel a pulse pressing against his skin. He peeled the blanket off Russia, and he watched his chest slowly expand then sink.

"I think the dude is just really tired," America said.

"He fell asleep in the afternoon yesterday," she murmured. "He hasn't woken up once."

"We saved some food for him," America said. "We knew he was asleep. Don't worry though, he'll wake up on his own."

"Yeah," she sighed and gave Russia a small smile. "I guess I'm just worrying too much. Ever since Belarus was… I don't want to lose him too."

"He doesn't have to come with us today," Canada said. "He can stay with me and everyone else. He can sleep as long as he wants, and we'll give him all his food when he wakes up."

Ukraine stroked over his back once before dropping her hand away to let him be.

"Thank you," she said.

They left her alone, but took Russia's plate of food and stored it in the fridge. They fed themselves, and then shortly they rallied up the groups that would be exploring outside that day. Cheap plastic bags were handed out, enough for two to accompany each group. The logbook was signed as according to routine, then the door was unlocked. They now remembered truly the horrors of outside, for now the gleaming-eyed animals within them tucked their tails between their legs and flicked their ears back. The people hesitated, turning back to Germany unsurely, before they stepped out onto the lawn, all passing under the lucky horseshoe that hung over the doorway.

The grass and moss underfoot was as spongy and blissful as it had been on the second day, when they had first been allowed outside. However, its charm had long since been lost to them. Once before, the prospect of leaving the dark house and entering the fresh air had been desired. Now, the crisp smell of pine and fallen leaves had a somber meaning, and the lazy clouds hanging above were too seemingly peaceful. The lawn that was so innocently squishy and entertaining was a twisted joke to them, served to bring them simple happiness and give them false hope that everything was alright

Italy carefully closed the door shut behind them. The string of garlic fell to the ground, but Italy put it back in its spot. He peered at it, realizing that here was more food. He wondered if Germany had already considered it, but had wanted to save eating the protective item until the very end, when they would become desperate enough to risk their own safety to not starve.

The group inside had one iron weapon between all its members. Canada wished they all could try searching for more iron in the house, but searching the place while the ghosts were becoming more active was not ideal. Germany had said that they should investigate the shed in the forest for more tools, considering how the idea had slipped his mind once the tunnel had been explored and he had wanted nothing more than to rush back to the mansion to find out how Finland was faring.

The pile of books was large, for on the occasional excursion across the mansion to the library, as many books as possible would be gathered in order to reduce the number of trips there. For now however, the children and Italy had occupied themselves with drawing, while Canada and Japan read by where Russia slept. Near the children Sweden and Finland lay side-by-side, both asleep as well. It was relatively quiet, although there were habitual creaks that all had become accustomed to and no longer jumped at, no matter how sudden or close the origin of the sound seemed. They were relaxed, feeling safe in their circle.

Kugelmugel's stack of paper full of heavily detailed sketches had grown tall during the last few days. He kept a neat pile close to him, as though to keep it safe from harm. He had found beauty in many simple objects around him, and once the protective items had been left around the room, he drew them as well. He had a sketch of the front table, with its long and limp tablecloth nearly kissing the floor, the spread papers and piles that made up the logbook, and the magnificent lump of quartz that smiled over it all. He stood once to draw the remains of the smudged summoning circle in the other room, and no one had protested against this, although he was not sure if they had known what he was doing or not. He had sketched the staircase with all of its stains; the dark spots and hand prints imprinted deep into the mahogany carpet. He had the garlic string and horseshoe drawn together when he had decided to draw the doorway; the place where he saw a enticing exit that only expanded their prison, and still held everyone in away from freedom.

The people were interesting, but it was hard to draw them for they moved too often. He had wanted to capture their exhausted faces, shade in the rings and perhaps try to record the desperate, fearful light that always shone over their wide eyes. He caught Germany, America, and Britain in the midst of interviewing Romania. He was quite satisfied in how he had successfully imprinted Germany's hardened frown, Britain's abnormally calm-looking expression, and America's invested posture. He had drawn America with his eyebrows raised, mouth still open as he inquired about something, and hands open in the way people have them when expecting a response from another person, as though waiting for the answer to drop into their grasp.

Kugelmugel enjoyed the image of Norway sitting between Denmark and Iceland, right after he had just received the injury and had a bandage wrapped around his face. It was wonderfully tragic, and Kugelmugel felt as though a string from his heart had attached itself to a needle, and that the needle was being pulled away and unravelling the spool of thread that his heart was. Every picture he drew served better than any journal. It was as though a photo had been taken, to forever mark what had happened. He had the serious face of an artist at work, but inside his heart pulled apart, as the needle tried to weave threads into each piece he completed. It hurt, but he could not help but donate a piece of himself for every person who suffered. With every memory he recorded, he silently embedded his sorrow, so that the pain would be recognized for the perfect tragedy it was.

Such perfection was what he found beauty in. He fully understood tragedy and its effects, for he was not immune to them. He gazed now over Russia's sleeping form, who had the blanket half off him to expose the crooked bat wings that had been damaged from the interrogation. His scarf was loose upon his throat, exposing a corner of a thick scar that Kugelmugel had until then been unaware of. Here was yet another thing that interested him. He had not even come close to scratching the surface of this nation that was so hated by others yet so unknown to him.

Ladonia peered upon from his own drawing that focused on less somber topics. He checked Kugelmugel, then slid closer to him.

"Are you drawing Russia?" he asked quietly.

"Yes," Kugelmugel replied simply.

"Why?"

"He's interesting."

"Really? I think he's creepy. I heard other people saying it too."

Kugelmugel shrugged, never once having taken his eyes off Russia during his brief conversation with Ladonia. Ladonia's curiosity had not yet been quenched however, so he slid in closer to catch a glimpse of the paper that the pencil was gently shading.

"Whoa," he breathed. He snuck around him to the pile of papers at his side. Without asking, he started to go through them, although his awe made him polite and careful with each sheet he lifted into the air before him.

"You drew these guys?"

Ladonia held up his own drawing to him, the one with Germany, America, Britain, and Romania.

"Oh, cool!"

The next one was an image of the sun rising over the trees. The window was not included in the picture, so Kugelmugel had drawn everything sharper as though no glass had blurred the view. The long grass blades swept over each other, the large rocks were bold, pines and deciduous trees proud and straight-postured on either side of the path, while a shaded sky showed the variation in colours with hard and soft smears. Ladonia noticed that on the dead branches of one of the trees in line with the sun, a single raven perched with its head cocked away from the mansion.

He took the next paper.

"Canada?"

He had said it lowly enough that Canada had not broken his attention away from the book. Kugelmugel nodded lightly.

"But, it just looks like you draw what you see," Ladonia said. "So why'd you put angel wings on him?"

"It's art."

"What? Of course it's art, you drew it!"

"It's symbolic," he elaborated. "Sometimes I add things to… demonstrate the mood better."

"Yeah, I get it!" Ladonia beamed. "Because he's really nice, right? He just helps everyone?"

Kugelmugel set the end of the pencil against his chin.

"I think I will colour it if we can find pencil crayons."

Ladonia exclaimed, "So was I right then?'

"There is never just one answer with art," he sighed. "Everyone sees it differently."

"But I want to know what you see!"

"It's…"

He felt so many emotions within that were hard to put into words when asked so suddenly about it. He let the sentence trail off as he sat there stuck in his mind, trying to find the right words. His tongue tasted the word _art_ many times as the word slipped out his mouth while his wide eyes focused on the incomplete sketch before him. He gave up eventually, and became engrossed with just drawing the sleeping nation a few metres away from him. Ladonia had left sometime during his muttering to see what Italy was drawing, so Kugelmugel was left in peace.

* * *

Hours later, the door was pushed inwards and the first group returned. Canada flicked a bookmark into his book and set it to the side, and already Italy was up and hovering by the side of the group of Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia.

"Hey, did you find anything?" Italy asked with an excited bounce towards their bag.

Latvia pulled his hands apart to reveal the contents to him. Italy looked down, saw that it was filled to the top with acorns, and exclaimed, "Wow! That's great!"

Italy took the bag from him and danced out of the circle to the kitchen where he set it on the counter.

Spain, Portugal, Romano, Norway, and Iceland had filled theirs with dandelion leaves and clovers. Romania's group with Bulgaria, Ukraine, and Denmark had found cedar and fat penny bun mushrooms. Other groups had found an abundance of nuts, with a few edible greens and more mushrooms tossed into the mix. Germany stalked into the kitchen with Japan to glance over the abundance of things that had been brought in.

"They better not be cursed," Germany growled.

"They do not look that way," Japan replied.

China popped into the kitchen.

"It was really easy to find everything!" he said. "We can probably use these things now and save the things that won't expire soon for later!"

"Exactly what I thought," Germany nodded. "We can make a full meal out of these things. Boil the dandelions and roast the acorns… protein and minerals will make everyone feel better after living off a diet made up of mostly Halloween junk for the last few days."

"I think we can use a lot," Japan said. "There are a lot of things to find, because there does not seem to be many living animals around here."

"Good for us, if all of this is edible," Germany replied.

He left the two of them to seek further advice from Britain upon whether they would be able to eat the good stock they had collected. From what Britain believed, everything would be safe, and that the animals seemed to have died from other causes.

"It has to be those wolves," Britain said. "The fresh bodies seem to have been stripped of meat, and the marks in the bones look as though to be from sharp teeth."

"I suppose so," Germany nodded. "I do not believe any wolves would settle on eating carrion unless they are desperate. Which, they would not be if this many animals come into the area."

Not so far away from them, Sweden was fully awake and surveying the area around Finland as everyone bustled about after apparently all returning safe inside without any incident. No one had even seen the Shadow while spending all that time wandering the graveyard searching for edible weeds. No sign of the large pack of wolves had been found also, although their subject could be heard discussed occasionally around the room.

When the door slammed from a disregardful push from America, Russia inhaled sharply and flicked open his eyes. He noticed a rather cheerful collection of people around him, so he stretched out lazily before curling around the semi-balled up blanket and cuddling it fiercely. Fatigue still weighed down upon him, and he still wished to rest. However, he heard sizzling in the kitchen and his insides clenched in pain as though taking angry blows from his growling stomach. His hand reached out and patted around until he located his glass of water. He brought it to his lips as Ukraine popped up at his side.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

"A little better," he murmured. "But I am really hungry…"

She nodded, "They're making lunch, and your breakfast and dinner are still waiting for you. You can have a super big meal!"

Russia smiled in relief. He soon stood and followed Ukraine with a few others upstairs to the bathroom, able to handle the stairs considerably better than yesterday, when it had been an exhausting crawl upwards for him. When he came back, he laid down and curled around the blanket once again while Ukraine requested that they heat up Russia's food. He did not want to eat it however, until everyone else was eating.

Salads with acorns and cooked mushrooms slices were brought out in filled bowls or on plates. Germany was satisfied to see how perked up they had become, looking positive now that their suffering could be soothed with food. Russia ate swiftly in the corner so that he would finish at the same time as the others, and when done, he contently fell back over his bed beside a small pile of polished plates. He was seen spreading out his blanket before throwing it over his lower body, then settling down on his side again. Germany's attention was only momentarily distracted by him, until he heard a voice clear itself beside him.

"Germany."

He turned to Iceland.

"What is it?"

"Finland wants to tell you something."

Germany raised his brows and looked over to the center of the room. Finland was now sitting up and staring over at him in the midst of the other three Nordics. Germany got up to head over to him with Iceland at his side.

"You wanted to tell me something?" he asked as he sat down.

Finland did not nod but he bobbed his body in affirmation.

"It still hurts him to talk," Denmark explained. "But he will write."

A book with a piece of paper over it was lying in Finland's lap. A pencil was already ready in his hand. A sentence was already at the top, and although it was upside down, Germany could clearly see that it said _I want to talk to Germany_.

Finland began to write something else, and Germany waited until the book and paper were inverted and passed into his waiting hands.

 _What did you see in the tunnel?_

Germany replied, "The thing that attacked you was dead on the ground. I went into the room and found nothing but small animal carcasses and a long piece of rope."

Finland took the book and paper back. He scratched his words quickly before pushing everything back into Germany's hands.

 _Did you see the thing above the door?_

"Above the door?" he asked. "No… what was there?"

Finland replied, _I saw a cross there with scratch marks, or at least that is what I thought at first. I was thinking about it, and if my memory is right, then this is interesting._

Germany quickly read what he had written before Finland continued. Germany watched the pencil go vertically up and horizontally as Finland began to draw something. When the paper was returned to him, Germany scanned over the religious cross that he had sketched, that had a short line horizontally over the longer main one, and then another short, thin line below that swept down to the viewer's right diagonally.

Underneath the sketch, Finland had written, _It's the cross of the Russian Orthodox Church._

"Are you sure that was what you saw?" Germany breathed.

 _I just realized it. But it is definitely what I saw down there._

Germany did not feel the need to go back down the hole to clarify this. He was sure of Finland's sincerity after he had decided to make him along with Sweden and Denmark one of his so called "Officers", and especially after the near-death experience Finland had received from his efforts.

"But it isn't Russia," Germany said. "It doesn't make sense. We already cleared him of suspicion, because there is no way he could be responsible. It must be another Eastern nation. The Orthodox religion is common in their countries as well, in fact more popular than in Russia's for some."

Finland wrote, _Belarus, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Moldova, or Romania?_

Sweden looked over Finland's shoulder, and said lowly, "Those little Baltic countries have a high percentage of believers too."

Germany replied, "It would make sense if Romania did it, considering that this is his home and that he would have been able to do it before we came. But it might not have been him either. It might have been put there by someone else long before we came here."

 _I wonder why it is there?_ Finland scribbled.

Germany replied, "It is hard to say if it has any point or not. If we find more, we might find out. For now, all we can do is consider it."

 _Ok. I hope that it helps though. It would be great if it was a clue!_

" _Ja_ …" Germany passed the paper back to him after reading it. "If we can find anything that will give us some help in finding the missing people… it would be great. We really need something, because we have nothing right now."

Germany thought, _Black magic... The culprit would have to make a solid mistake for us to have a chance._

He thanked Finland and then left the Nordics to tell this possibly important piece of information to the other four original leaders, then Japan and China when they came by.

* * *

The plastic bags had been emptied of their contents. Everything had been stored away, and now they were ready to go back out into the forest to fill them with whatever they came across while they continued to search for clues or traces of the missing people.

The Baltic group with Poland returned to the same area they had been assigned to since the start. They passed by the gathering of oak trees again, that had a carpet of acorns by their thick roots that popped up through the ground. Nothing had come back to collect them, so the three of them took the liberty to toss a few more handfuls into the bag before they carried on their way.

They advanced slowly with each person checking a single direction. It had become more difficult to keep a constant watch on all directions now that they had lost Estonia, so it was necessary to turn their heads back and forth to survey the side they were watching completely. In those moments, they inhaled sharply and narrowed their eyes, heart thumping as they waited to behold the sight of a tall black figure standing among the trees. They were not sure if the Shadow wandered to where they currently were, but they walked carefully in case it was paramount to remain quiet to avoid it.

"Why didn't we get a weapon this time?" Poland asked. "Like, that other group with Romania and such got one again!"

"We probably aren't as important as them," Lithuania muttered. "They likely forgot about us, or they think we are not as important."

"You don't really think that's the reason do you?" Latvia whispered as he flicked his head towards another direction. "I think they care. Germany gave me one of the protective pieces of jewelry…"

"He saw you trembling," Lithuania said. "And he probably just did it to get your support along with everyone else who saw him give it to you.

Latvia frowned, "Why are you being so negative, Lithuania? It is not like you. You are usually more spirited and determined."

"I'm not being negative, just realistic."

"They care about us all," Latvia insisted. "Maybe they just… didn't think we needed a weapon. I have the thing, but that other group doesn't."

"You believe it will help you because you were told that it would?"

"They know more about this than I do, so I will believe them."

Lithuania blinked.

"So you assume that they are right?"

Latvia replied, "You are assuming that they are wrong. What is the difference? We are both just guessing, yes?"

"I just don't want you getting too hopeful," Lithuania sighed. "Because if something really dark tries to get you, I don't think a little gem like that, even if it really does have positive powers, will be enough to stop it."

"I know," Latvia murmured as he hopped onto a stone. "I wouldn't be stupid and stay. I would run if something tried to-"

Behind Lithuania to his left, it was suddenly silent. He whirled around on his heels and his mouth gaped at the lonely stones where Latvia had completely disappeared. Poland turned as well and blinked his widened eyes rapidly.

" _Latvia!_ " Lithuania shrieked.

Poland sided him as they rushed over to where he had just disappeared from. Lithuania gasped and snatched Poland by the arm before he stepped over the rocks and plunged into the hole of darkness that gaped like an open, anticipating mouth. Poland stepped back while Lithuania fell to his hands and knees.

"Latvia?" he called. "Are you alright?"

Under the shadow of a tall tree, it was difficult for him to see the dirt bottom. He heard a small groan and then a shuffling movement.

"Y-Yeah…" Latvia's voice rose back to him. "I'm okay."

Lithuania sighed.

"Do you think you can climb back out on your own?" he asked.

The other called back, "I think so…"

Poland said, "Is there another tunnel down there?"

Latvia heard him, and replied, "Yeah, it seems like it, but I can't see anything. It is wider down here though, so it might be long too."

"Just come up here," Lithuania said. "We'll tell the others about it later."

The drop had not been completely vertical, and it in fact was angled so that he had slid down it instead of falling. He had been projected a little deeper into the possible tunnel than he was comfortable with, so he hopped to his feet and padded forward. His feet squelched on the muddy floor, where rain from before had flowed down the slide to flood the place. He felt as though he could still feel the temperature of the November- chilled rain however, embedded into the dirt walls. He shivered although he was dry, and as he walked forward he kept his hands tucked under his armpits.

The patch of dull light ahead in the ceiling drew nearer. Latvia clutched his small frame tighter as he moved towards the exit. The cold seemed to wrap tightly around him, holding him in an intimate embrace. He felt the thin hairs over his body prick as he took in a shaky, anxious inhale. The temperature behind him only seemed to drop exponentially, too swiftly to have time for him to connect this phenomenon with its meaning.

Soft, icy fingers fell over his shoulders. Latvia never had a chance to scream.

Above, Lithuania leaned his head forward slightly into the hole, although doing so did not offer him any more visual.

"Latvia?" he called. "Are you coming?"

His fingers grazed over the surface of a rock before they pressed against it. He listened to the silence, and a shiver ran down his spine.

"Lat…"

He trailed off when he heard movement. He saw a figure clawing at the dirt and crawling out from the hole, so he backed away to give it space. The first things to emerge from the hole were two slender arms, followed by a head topped with downy, dove-brown hair. Latvia came to his feet and stepped over the rocks furthest away from them. Poland and Lithuania watched him oddly as he continued walking onwards away from them.

Lithuania immediately picked up on the odd air coming off him.

"Latvia, are you alright?"

Latvia did not turn when his name was called, nor did he respond. He only continued on ahead. Lithuania jogged after him, and Poland nervously hurried over too while holding his lower lip between his teeth.

Lithuania slapped a hand on Latvia's shoulder. The other stopped, although his body was still facing forward.

"Hey, what's wrong with you? What happened?"

Latvia walked forward and let Lithuania's hand drop limply.

"Latvia!" he called.

He dove after him and snatched him by his thin wrist, pulling him a little roughly to spin him around to face him. Lithuania instantly gasped when he looked down upon Latvia's abnormally blank expression ruled by two eyes with huge, dilated pupils.

"L-Lat-"

Latvia jolted and sprang away from him. His shoulders raised and he flashed his head back and forth between the two of them. His lips pulled away from his teeth and he shrieked, " _Cine sunţeti voi?_ "

"What?" Poland tilted his head.

Even Lithuania looked at a loss. He knew that language was not at all Latvian. He raised a hand to demonstrate calm intentions, and he stepped forward towards the bristling person before him. Before he could utter a word however, Latvia tore away in the opposite direction.

"No!" Lithuania yelped as he took off after him. "Don't run away!"

Lithuania and Poland desperately sprinted after the quick shape that darted through the trees and slipped through the heather. Their breaths came out in hot gasps as they struggled to fight through the thick tangles of flora that Latvia had so easily gotten his petite body through. So quickly, Latvia's figure grew distant, leaping nimbly over roots and rocks. Lithuania screamed after him vainly while he attacked the branches that whipped in his face as he shot through them. Latvia did not stop, and once he changed direction and fled into the forest on their left, he disappeared from sight while the sound of cracking branches faded away with each passing second.

"Oh no," Lithuania breathed. "Oh no, no, no… we have to find him! It's dangerous out here!"

"Why did he run?" Poland asked. "And what did he say?"

"I…" Lithuania swallowed. "I don't think that was Latvia at all."

They gulped in a few deep breaths as they began to jog in the direction Latvia had vanished.

* * *

Kugelmugel examined his completed drawing of Russia before he added it to his pile. Russia had fallen asleep in the same position as before, but Kugelmugel had had to take the time to redraw the blankets that had been moved. After the hours since lunch had passed however, he had finally fixed up everything to his liking.

Finland murmured something in his sleep before shifting closer to Sweden. The other stiffened when suddenly lightly touched, and he flicked his eyes open to see Finland nestled up beside him. He placed an arm carefully over him and rested his hand over Finland's stomach before he relaxed again. Sweden quickly fell back asleep when he had such a comfortable warmth close.

Russia was not as deep asleep as before, so he pulled himself from his dreams and asked Canada to escort him upstairs. They were gone for a fair amount of time before they came down to see Finland stir. Finland was facing the stairs, so he first noticed the two walking around the table and returning to the salt circle. His eyes caught onto a flash of silver, and they widened when they realized that Russia was the one holding the hedge clipper blade. He very nearly gasped, for Russia bore this weapon while Canada's back was turned to him. He stared at Canada's facial expression, but he only found serenity there and in his body's composure.

He watched Russia set the weapon on the table then return to his spot and sign back in with Canada. Russia then immediately flopped down as though winded from the excursion to the fourth floor's bathroom, and he adjusted the blankets around himself before stilling. It was once Russia had gone inactive, that Finland finally noticed an extra warmth around him that was not a part of the blankets. He raised his hand and touched it, and he felt the smooth skin of the hand over him, then he touched higher upwards to find a sleeved arm.

He was not shocked, for he immediately figured out who it was that was doing this. He turned over, letting the hand slid over his back, and he looked up slightly to meet Sweden's sharp gaze that had been held upon him for the entirety of a minute. The intensity of that stare did not however, startle him like it would have a long time ago before he had gotten to know this person. Finland was not sure how he should feel about their closeness in this situation; he had difficulty in grabbing onto a palpable emotion. He did not comment on it, instead he just carefully pulled himself away to stand.

He wobbled, but he was able to stand on his own although Sweden's arms had been ready to catch and steady him. He still was too unbalanced to walk far, so he accepted Sweden's elbow and leaned most of his weight against it.

Ladonia appeared at their side.

"You're going to the bathroom?" he asked.

"Mm," Sweden replied.

"Okay, I want to come too!"

Sealand was also up now, joining Ladonia's side. He did not explain anything, but instead just signed out with the others. Sweden glanced down at the loose chain on the pendant that snuck out from Sealand's pocket. He did not approve of it, but when Sealand had asked about it the day before, Sweden had returned it only to make him feel better.

As the four of them left the circle and headed up the first flight of stairs, something tapped at the window. Italy, Japan, Moldova, and Canada looked up when another tap followed. Two water droplets stuck to the window and very slowly rolled down the glass. Three more hit the window in succession, and very soon the room's silence outside of the constant ticking of the clock was broken by a light, continuous melody.

It took only five minutes before the song picked up in pace. The wind strengthened to slash waves of water across the window. Another storm was upon them, and those dry inside stared out at the gray scene beyond the door and window, knowing that the others would be on their way back.

"It was almost time for dinner anyway," Canada commented. "And it's getting dark now too."

The others agreed although they made no sound to indicate it. They all sat and watched the rain for a moment, until a hefty thump echoed from down the hall to their right, with the sound resembling that of when a bird has flown into a window. They turned their heads in that direction, and soon another pound against glass was heard. They did not imagine that these sounds were caused by two unlucky crows. No one however, wanted to investigate, and would not have even if the weapon had been downstairs with them. They remained in the circle, unbothered, until there was a high, loud crash as glass unmistakably was shattered.

Italy jumped to his feet and quivered.

"What was that?" he whimpered.

Canada and Japan waited at the edge of the salt circle, staring into the darkness down the hall. Crunching sounds swam through the air and reached their ears. After a moment, a door swung open, and something small and dark padded into the hall. It turned to wander in their direction. Canada and Japan backed away from the line as it came closer.

It stepped into the dimmer light, and gradually its form became clearer. The darkness faded, and colours became visible. This was no shadow. The viewer's eyes stretched open in shock.

"Latvia?" Canada gasped.

Latvia froze under the light and stared at them. His drenched costume dripped water onto the floor, drop-by-drop, as he stood there completely still.

"Hey," Canada spoke to him softly. "What are you doing?"

More wet splotches appeared on the floor. Latvia still just stared at them without making any movements. Canada narrowed his eyes to peer more closely at him. He examined his face, which had a strange blankness. Unlike Russia's expression when he was in shock however, there was something entirely disturbing about Latvia's. Canada's heart increased in rate automatically as a chill overcame him in just looking back at this… _thing_.

He noticed how huge and black Latvia's pupils were. His irises were thin, bright rings around them, like the sun's blaring light behind the moon during a solar eclipse. The pupils resembled however, as though they had expanded as they do when one enters a dark place, although Latvia's seemed to be stuck in this position even now in the illuminated room.

Latvia snapped back to life. He shot to the side and trotted like a cat swiftly into the kitchen. Canada hurried after him, calling in a hushed tone, "Hold on! What are you...?"

Canada hopped out of the doorway when he saw what Latvia was now holding. He backtracked and retreated back into the circle. Latvia paused in the doorway where Canada had just been, and he once again stared at the four looking fearfully back at him, and at the unresponsive one on the floor.

"What is going on?" Italy cried.

As though startled by the sudden noise, Latvia turned and raced away down the hall.

"What do we do?" Japan exclaimed. "We need to go after him, but we have no weapon!"

"You can take any old frying pan," Moldova said.

"Frying pan?" Canada said. "Would that work against the ghosts?"

Moldova blinked and gasped, " _Ohhh_ , you meant ghosts!"

 _Attack Latvia?_ Canada's mind exclaimed. _Out of the question! He's in danger running around by himself in the mansion!_

"I'm going after him," Canada said.

Italy cried, "But what about the ghosts? What if they attack you?"

"I run."

"I will go too," Japan decided.

"You guys!" Italy yelped. "You're only going to increase the number of victims!"

"We can do it," Japan said. "We will be careful."

Canada said, "If anything happens, we will run back to the circle as fast as possible."

Canada and Japan hopped out.

"There is another staircase," Japan said. "I will go upstairs in case he runs up there."

"Alright," Canada affirmed, before he proceeded to run down the hall.

"I'm coming too!" Italy announced.

Japan kept running upwards, but he turned his head and stared at Italy in surprise. The howlite pendant bounced on his chest as he hurried to Japan's side.

"I am not very good at chasing, but I am very good at running away!" Italy exclaimed. "I can help search another floor!"

A small smile tinged Japan's face. He was truly impressed by the person who had left behind the safety of the circle to come run here beside him towards an unknown fate. Japan paused for a moment, turned and called back to the two waiting children, "Stay with Russia! Others will be here soon. Do not leave the circle! In fact, you can help too. Put the microphone on full volume, and hopefully the others upstairs will hear you and look out for Latvia as well! He has a weapon. You must warn them!"

Moldova dove onto the speaker, finding that the volume had already been set to full due to its last usage by Switzerland. A little red light on the speakers glowed to indicate that it was powered on, but the microphone gave no indication of this even when Moldova had pressed the switch into the on position. There was no crack in the speakers even when it been flicked it on and off, and not the slightest feedback was heard.

Moldova yelled into the microphone, but his voice did not echo in the slightest through the speakers. He tried yelling into it even in the off position, but still without result.

"It's broken!" he wailed.

Kugelmugel held onto the cord and analyzed it. He found a series of small cuts along its length.

"Someone did it," he murmured.

Russia peeked through his eyelashes down the hall that Latvia and Canada had disappeared from. He watched silently although he did not move or contribute to the panic.

The door banged inwards as Germany's and Britain's group arrived on scene. Germany immediately caught onto the lack of people, and he demanded, "Where is everyone?"

Moldova exclaimed, "Latvia broke into the house and is running around possessed! They went looking for him!"

Kugelmugel added, "Sweden, Finland, Sealand, and Ladonia went to the bathroom."

"Possessed?" Germany exclaimed.

"We have to find him!" Britain gasped. "Before he gets hurt or taken!"

"He's on the target list," France murmured.

Lithuania grasped the doorframe suddenly and cried, "Something happened to Latvia in the forest and we lost him!"

"He's here," America quickly explained. "Running around somewhere!"

Russia stood up now that so many had arrived. Once the groups bearing weapons returned, he took off with all of those who had split off and zipped away up the stairs and down the halls. France stayed once he saw everyone departing, and he explained the situation to every group that burst inside. Denmark remained as a guard with his scythe, while entire other groups dropped their bags and raced away as well, although decidedly sticking together instead.

"Damn," Romano uttered as he ran alongside Spain and Portugal. "Latvia- that's the small one right? How are we supposed to find him if he decides to hide?"

"We'll catch him running in the halls," Portugal said. "The pressure on him won't give him time!"

Unbeknownst to them at that time, Canada had this exact goal in mind. He ripped around the corners, catching sight of Latvia's fleeing form, trying to always keep him in sight in case he ducked into a room.

"Latvia!" Canada cried. "Please, snap out of it!"

Latvia cast a frightened glance over his shoulder as Canada came nearer. Latvia began to shriek something in a tongue that Canada did not understand, although he quickly deduced that it was Romanian.

" _Ajutor!_ " was the cry. " _Ajutor!_ "

Latvia pelted up a flight of stairs, and Canada was close behind. Canada stretched out an arm while his other pumped consistently, reaching to grab a hold of Latvia's shirt. Canada choked when something that felt solid and metallic banged against his legs and caused him to crash over the stairs. His bones rang from the hit, and he hissed in pain. He turned his head to the side as he made it to his feet, expecting to see someone wielding a crowbar, however there was nothing there at all. He tried to stand to keep going, but he collapsed unexpectedly from a sharp pain.

"No, no!" Canada cried as he scrambled up the stairs after the other. "Latvia! Come back!"

He had lost his distance. Latvia ran onwards, and Canada's heart soon ached with dread as he realized that he had lost him. He passed by the floors, until he reached the fifth one without catching sight of him bolting down a hall. Latvia had taken a turn somewhere, but Canada had missed it.

He stood at the top floor, looking down the dark and silent hall helplessly.

* * *

A few minutes later, a loud gasp sounded out at the very end of a lonely hall. His heart throbbed and he shook profusely. Sweat soaked his body and his skin had become pale, as though the blood had been sucked from him. Small hands clasped the edges of a wooden stand to support the slumped body.

Latvia panted as his eyes raised back up to the mirror hanging before him. He stared at his exhausted face that had petrified, circular eyes.

 _How did I get here?_ he thought with a trembling inhale trickling into his lungs. He could not recall how he had become so tired, what had caused the dirt and scrapes to appear upon his flesh, and why his knuckles were bleeding. In addition to this, he did not have any idea as to what floor he was on, or how far away he was from the others. He knew however, that time must have passed, for he heard the vicious onslaught of rain on nearby windows and the low grumble of thunder. The last thing he had remembered was a simple ceiling of gray seen through the forest's canopy.

 _Where…?_ his mind had begun to vainly ask before something had cut it off. His heart jolted as he finally noticed the shape moving slowly towards him in the mirror. He locked eyes with the person, who gave him a gentle, seemingly pleased smile. Latvia so very hesitantly turned to face the person.

"Latvia!" Russia sang with the smile on his face broadening. "There you are!"

A flash of silver caught his attention, and his eyes drifted downwards. His mouth gaped as his round, shining eyes locked onto the large steak knife clenched in Russia's hand.

"Wh-what?" he squeaked.

Russia took another step closer.

"I found you!" he chirped enthusiastically.

"N-No," Latvia whimpered. "It-it isn't you… it couldn't be- they…. they cleared you…"

Russia's gradually nearing presence pressured Latvia into the corner.

"What isn't me?" he asked.

Thunder growled again, and the windows pressed in from the strength of the whistling wind and the weight of the pouring rain. Latvia held his hands against his face. Tears ran between his fingers as his back pressed against the wall.

"Please…" Latvia whined. "Please, please, I'm begging you!"

Russia considered the knife for a moment, then Latvia again.

"Oh." He nodded. "I am understanding problem."

Russia was in the midst of throwing the knife away, but the movement of his arm sent Latvia into a panic. He screeched, and Russia coughed when a solid kick nailed him in the crotch. The knife fell softly on the carpet beside Russia as he dropped to his knees and moaned out in pain through his closed lips. He heard Latvia still screaming as he tore past him and down the hall.

Russia turned his head over his shoulder and groaned, "No, Latvia- wait..."

Russia leapt to his feet, gut tightening as it desired to empty its contents. He ignored the deep pain as he sprinted after Latvia.

"Come back!" he called. "Latvia, come back!"

Latvia whimpered as he heard Russia giving chase. He rounded the corner, and quickly threw himself into a room to hide himself behind the door. Russia had not seen him, and it seemed that he had thought Latvia to be further ahead, for Russia only continued past the room to the staircase.

"Latvia?" Russia leapt down the stairs a few at a time. "It is not safe for you! Do not be running away!"

Latvia sniffed quietly and shivered. He listened to Russia's calls grow distant. When they ended and the outside hall was silent, his shoulders dropped in relief. Latvia carefully backed away into the open, stepping towards the hall to take a quick peek into it. He clutched the doorway with cold hands, and he flashed his head from side-to-side. He wanted so much to find someone else and be safe, but the hall was currently empty.

He sighed and took a single step forward. That was as far as he got before a hooked arm swept around and caught him by the throat while a hand slapped against his mouth and nostrils. His eyes popped and he emitted a muffled cry before he was yanked harshly backwards into the room.

* * *

Germany, America, and Britain jogged up one of the side flights of stairs. They had not glimpsed Latvia on the first floor, and they only continued higher at a brisk pace. The rifle strapped against America's chest bounced up and down as he raced up the stairs alongside Germany.

They very nearly collided with Canada on the staircase between the second and third floor. This person halted and stared at them with frantic eyes. He exclaimed, "Have you seen him?"

"No," Germany replied.

"I almost had him," Canada sighed. "But something hit me and I lost him. He could be hiding anywhere now!"

At that moment, a scream arose from high above, intertwined with some barely audible hollers from another. The four of them flew up the stairs together, skipping past the third floor for it was understood that the sounds had been more distant. They came up to the fourth floor, sprinting through the halls to reach the opposite end. Russia was missed going down the stairs, and so his involvement remained unknown to them.

"I don't see him!" America cried. "He must be in one of the rooms!"

"That one!"

Canada pointed down the hall to one of the rooms.

"We've been keeping all the doors open since day one," he exclaimed. "But that door is closed!"

That room was entirely familiar to the other three as the room they had interrogated Russia in just yesterday. America was nervous to come near it, considering the paranormal attack that had included him there. They trotted over to it cautiously. Germany grabbed the door handle firmly in one hand, looked back at the others to confirm that they were ready, before he pressed down and shoved inwards.

They heard the low, almost clucking sounds before they caught sight of anything. An instant later however, they all gasped in chorus and let their jaws hang slack. They gazed in uncontained horror over the explosion of rope that wrapped around and around the bed posts, to cross over the top beams and the end of the bed. A person weakly struggled and pawed at their neck as they hung suspended in the air.

"Oh my god!" America cried. He bolted across the room alongside Canada and leapt onto the bed. Canada grabbed Latvia by the legs and held him higher, in hopes of decreasing the tension. However, the rope was already biting deep into his neck, and Latvia could only continue choking with his mouth wide open and his eyes bugged.

"Hurry, America!" Canada gasped. "Cut him down!"

"I'm trying!" America panicked, scrambling clumsily with the heavy amount of knots.

Germany hollered and raced forward. He soared upwards, snatched a piece of taut rope in two hands, and ripped it apart as easily as a piece of thread. Latvia dropped into Canada's hold, still suffocating until Germany jammed his fingers between the rope and Latvia's neck. For a moment, the pain was unbearable and Latvia convulsed with his mouth working like a fish, but then all the pressure disappeared when the noose broke and slid away from him in two pieces.

Latvia shakily inhaled, and at first it was so difficult to bring the precious air into his withered lungs. He gently rocked back and forth to the breaths, and as the energy slowly returned to him, he started to gasp loudly and cry heavily. The colour of his face faded back to normal, and he quaked as heavily sobs afflicted him.

Canada sunk to his knees and toes and embraced Latvia. He stroked his hand over the side of his head, murmuring to him, "It's okay, we've got you. You're okay."

Latvia hugged Canada and pressed the side of his face against his chest. One glimmering eye glanced to the side, and the others watched the journey of a tear trekking across his cheek. It paused over the curve of his bone, before it plunged vertically and touched the corner of Latvia's parted lips.

A thick, raw red mark hugged around Latvia's neck like a collar. The skin had been rubbed away, and the remaining burn was smeared with blood. His necklace's chain had bitten into him and was now a deeper and darker line in the wound. His inner tissues felt scorched, and his throat was hot and sticky, giving him difficulty in keeping his airway open. Each sob resulted in intense pain, but he could not prevent them from arising. In fact, the more pain he experienced, the harder the sobs that escaped his throat were. Canada realized the pain he was in, so he shushed him and carefully tightened his arms around him to let him know that he was safe.

"Calm down," he soothed. "It's over."

"The culprit made a mistake," America murmured, staring at his brother as he comforted Latvia. "Latvia must have seen the person's face."

The realization hit Germany like a powerful blow to the stomach. He fell forward, face zooming in close to Latvia's.

"Who was it?" Germany boomed. "Who did this to you?"

Latvia flinched and Canada felt him cling tighter to him.

"Germany," Canada whispered. "He's in shock. Give him a few-"

"You saw them!" Germany boomed. "Who did it?"

The sobs that Canada had calmed started up again. Latvia cried so hard that he began having difficulty breathing, so Canada turned to the side slightly away from Germany.

"Don't yell at him," Canada pressed. "You're just scaring him!"

Germany growled, "Don't you understand the situation? We need to know right now who is behind this before anyone else gets hurt! He must tell us!"

Canada quickly whispered back, "But he can't, you have to-"

"Who is it?" Germany thundered over them. "Who is responsible for everything?"

Latvia gasped and shook harder.

"Germany!" Canada hurled out. "Leave him alone!"

"Canada," Britain muttered. "He's right. Latvia needs to get over it now and tell us who it is. Everyone is running around wild now. Something else can happen at any minute. We can't afford to be considerate."

"Alright," Canada sighed. "But we have to try another way. We have to be gentle..."

Latvia glanced upwards into Canada's eyes as the other dipped his head to look down at him. Canada rubbed his back reassuringly, and Latvia blinked away his tears.

"Latvia," Canada spoke to him in a soothing, honied voice. "I am very sorry that this happened to you. We'll take care of you, okay? Try to relax. We'll take you downstairs."

Latvia closed his eyes, laid his head back against Canada's shoulder, and quieted.

Canada continued, "But it is very important that we know who hurt you. Could you please tell us?"

Canada was surprised when Latvia had begun to cry and shake his head.

" _No, no, no, no…_ " Latvia whispered.

"What's wrong, Latvia?" Canada stroked his hair again.

" _I can't do it._ "

"Why not?" Canada whispered.

Latvia choked out hoarsely, "No… You won't understand… I-I…"

"Please, it would be a great help to everyone. We need to rescue the others, so we can all get out of this mansion together. Tell us. Then you'll get to go home. You do want to, don't you Latvia? It will be nice. We'll all be happy again."

"I want to go home so badly," Latvia wept. "I do… I'm so scared… I don't w-want to die!"

"You can tell me," Canada murmured. "And everything will be okay."

Latvia nodded slightly. He looked back up at Canada, but immediately looked away.

"Please… I have to do this anyway…" Latvia said. "I have n-no choice… so please… d-don't do anything."

"Don't worry," Canada said softly.

Latvia sniffed, then whispered so quietly that they barely heard him.

" _It was Russia_."

* * *

Russia was padding calmly alone down the hall on the second floor. He was heading towards the main staircase, when he saw Germany, Britain, and America stepping down onto his level. There were no words exchanged. Russia froze as America raised the rifle and levelled it on his form.

The mansion echoed with the sound of a single gunshot, and all those in every hall on every level halted as though the world around them had shattered and there was no place around them left to tread.

Britain hollered, "What the hell are you doing, America?"

A single, solid bullet hole stared back at them like a black eye in the wall. The spot where Russia had just been was now vacant, and his fleeing footsteps were heard pounding away out of sight around the corner.

America yelled back, "I wasn't trying to kill him! Just slow him down!"

They sprinted after him. Britain called back, "Good god, haven't you heard of the element of surprise? Now he's on the run!"

Russia gasped roughly. He threw a fleeting glance over his shoulder as he saw the three people chasing him, and the rifle already attempting to be held steady on his form. Russia threw himself to the side and tore up the other staircase, and he promptly heard the rapid footsteps dashing up after him. He grew dizzy from fear as he heard the furious snarls of Germany and America close behind. All he could do was run higher and higher, panting while black spots filled his vision as he body screamed for the rest that it had been deprived of for the last few days. It had not received enough yet, and it was already slowing his legs movements.

Nothing felt real; all seemed like one of those dreams where no matter how fast one tries to run, it is as though one is treading through molasses. Russia's arms pumped faster as though encouraging his legs to match the pace, although soon even they became too tired to continue moving so fast. His confused mind screamed hysterically at his body, _Come on! Get away! Higher!_

He reached the top at the fifth floor. He pelted over the carpet, and once again the others were close behind.

Russia caught sight of two shapes up ahead moving. Poland and Lithuania turned their heads to see the chaos advancing towards them.

"Stop him!" America screamed. "Stop him!"

Lithuania and Poland braced themselves. They squatted down and held out their arms, ready to grab him once he came close. Russia charged onwards, and when hands snatched him, he twisted sharply and clenched his teeth. Poland was sent flying, and he crashed against the wall and fell into a heap. Lithuania had a solid grip, wrapping around his legs and trying to take him down in a rugby tackle. Russia spread his legs, trying to pry apart Lithuania's grip, but he lost his balance and fell. He whipped around onto his stomach, and saw Lithuania pouncing for him. He briefly glimpsed a energized light in Lithuania's eyes, and what seemed to be a barely concealed smile on his lips.

Russia booted him powerfully in the gut and set him flying towards the other three. He jumped forward, stumbled, then continued running. He glanced back to see Germany shoving Lithuania away and leading the other two after him.

 _I need to get away!_ Russia panicked. The rifle raised again.

Through the adrenaline and fear, he remembered a place that his group had searched before. He leapt up the main staircase, flew past the stairs in an instant, rounded the corner sharply, then advanced up the final set of stairs to the highest point of the mansion.

The door burst open and Russia leapt out onto the roof into the howling storm. He turned around and slammed the door shut with the help of the wind into the face of Germany. He leaned his weight against it, shoving against the other. His fatigue however, could not allow this struggle. He was soon tripping backwards as the door whipped open and the three Investigators prowled onto the roof.

" _You bastard!_ " America screamed over the torrents of rain striking the flat roof and the wind that screeched. " _I trusted you!_ "

Russia shivered in fear and from the coldness that settled into his skin from the powerful rain that had already drenched him entirely. Thunder growled above them, and Russia wavered from another gust of wind that battered his weakened body.

His huge eyes locked onto the rifle that pointed at his chest. It aimed at his spasming heart. He knew that with the rain soaking his face, the viewers could not distinguish between the raindrops and the tears that poured down his face.

"I did not do anything!" Russia cried.

"We know what you did!" Germany boomed. "We found Latvia before you could finish him off! He told us that it was you!"

"Latvia?" Russia gasped. "But… why?"

America snarled and advanced towards him. Russia hopped backwards, which only caused a dangerous spark to ignite in America's eyes. He saw his hands clench. Russia dropped to his knees in a puddle, staring up at the merciless eyes behind water-speckled glasses.

"No!" Russia cried. "Don't shoot! Don't shoot me!"

America pressed the tip against his heaving chest.

"The world is going to make you pay for your actions," America spat. "You miserable piece of shit!"

Germany and Britain stalked up to America's side.

"Where are they?" Germany hissed. "What did you do to them?"

"I don't know!" Russia wailed to the apathetic sky above. "I didn't do it!"

Russia placed his hands around the barrel of the gun. He bent forward and wept over it.

"You deserve to die," America uttered.

Russia shoved away the gun and dashed away. America yelled and aimed the rifle back at him.

"Stop!" he shrieked. "Another step, and I'll do it!"

Russia froze and stared back at them. He trembled like a tiny leaf clinging desperately to a twig in a storm exactly like this one. He swayed from side-to-side, still breathing heavily.

"Please!" Russia sobbed. "You have to believe me! I would never do this!"

"The game's over," Britain said. "Give up."

Total white blinded them all for a second as lightning flashed above and momentarily bathed the dark world in its light. What followed after was a deafening boom of thunder exploding overhead, likening the sound of a gunshot. Russia was startled and he careened backwards like a spooked horse, emitting a single yip. Water skidded under his feet, but then the scraping noise stopped when he ran out of roof beneath his feet.

Russia snatched onto the ledge and desperately clawed to get leverage and pull himself up. The rest of his body dangled over the immense drop to the ground, angled to the side from the wind. They saw Russia's white teeth that were exposed in a frightened grin. His eyes were stretched wide although his pupils were constricted to black dots. Those eyes focused on the ground in front of him, never seeing the people racing forward to him.

The ledge broke under his weight, and the spot where Russia had just been clinging was suddenly empty, filled only by the continuously falling rain. From somewhere that seemed so very far away, they heard a scream growing distant.

* * *

Carried with the rain, a black form whooshed by the windows, passing each floor without pause, only carrying on its destined path. Upon each level, this screaming form was seen by a few, and all who had witnessed it raced to the window to press their faces against the glass. Lithuania and Poland saw him pass the fifth floor. On the fourth, it was Seychelles and third, Canada and Latvia. On the second, Ukraine, Romania, and Bulgaria.

Finally, on the first floor, Sealand and Ladonia screamed. Sweden hollered before he and Finland covered the childrens' eyes. However, it had been too late to spare them from the sight of what lay just a few metres away from them outside.

* * *

They still stared at that spot even after the screams had been abruptly cut off.

America was the first to moan, "Oh god… Oh god no..."

He stepped towards the edge on legs he could not feel. He had already begun to cry even before he peered over the drop to the ground. It took only instant before his eyes popped and a quick shriek escaped his lips. He stumbled backwards away, turning and then swaying like a drunkard. Britain and Germany stared at him in shocked horror as America balled and collapsed. The rifle was dropped, but he ignored it as he began to retch beside it.

He had his arms around his stomach, trying to hold it all in. He now shivered, and was as pale and wobbly as Russia had been the day before. The vomit stayed within him, although he would not stop moaning like a mournful ghost. Britain and Germany still did not go near the edge, and instead only looked at America.

Britain asked in a thin voice, "America… What did you see?"

America choked on a sob before crying, "He… He landed on the fucking _rocks!_ "

The morbid human curiosity overcame them. They came to the spot where America had just stood, and they looked down just as he had. Both gasped, and instantly looked as ill as America.

It was not a scene of gore, however Russia's body was twisted over the rocks and his limbs were askew and crooked. A fair splatter of red soaked the rocks, some of it diluting from the rain while closer to Russia it only deepened in colour. Even from this distance as well, they could see white spots poking through his black costume where jagged shards of broken bones had stabbed through his flesh.

They backed away as their own tears streaked down their faces.

"No, no," Germany murmured. "This did not happen…"

His half-closed hand touched against his chest. His heart pounded heavily, understanding the weight of what had just happened even if his brain was unable to comprehend his actions yet.

Britain whispered, "He… might still be alive…"

America shook his head over and over again.

Germany's hand dropped as he readily soaked up what Britain had just said. He affirmed, "He's strong. That drop might not have killed him. Come on, we have to get to him!"

America only cried and moaned, but Britain snatched his arm and yanked him along. They immediately became aware that the current event had not gone unnoticed, for they heard screaming and wailing coming from the lower levels. They returned to the front room where the panic was at its greatest. Ukraine was screeching and fumbling with the lock to the front door, and Germany rushed towards her to grab and restrain her arms.

"No!" he shouted.

She struggled wildly in his grasp, and Germany's eyebrows shot up when he was thrown to the side. She dove upon the door and wrenched it towards her, before pouncing out into the rain.

"Ukraine! Stop!" Britain hurled out.

She rounded the corner to the left where she knew Russia had landed not so far from the front entrance. Mud splashed against her legs as she pelted towards the form collapsed over the collection of large rocks. She faintly heard the yells behind her that told her to stay away from him, and the approaching footsteps. Her paced slowed as she came nearer.

"Russia…" she whispered. She extended her fingers out towards him.

Britain, Germany, and America had not wanted her to see. Every ounce of them screamed in agony from the overwhelming guilt, and they desperately had wanted to conceal the horror of their actions from the others. They ran forward, crying for her to get back inside.

They simply could not handle this pain.

Her hand froze over his back, as she suddenly noticed a jagged shard of white piercing out from him. She threw back her head and shrieked to the hushing, darkening sky above. Her sobs became frenzied while between them the distraught, repetitive cry of her brother's name was hurled out to echo into the distance.

She could not hear at first how the other three's calls had turned to a frantic screaming of her name. The people who had stayed inside to follow Germany, Britain, and America now tapped panickingly at the glass. Ukraine tilted her head down and saw a shorter form prowling closer. It had dirty, spiked yellow-gray fur and brown eyes that were focused directly upon her. Clawed paws padded through the puddles as it stalked forward with an raised, quivering tail.

Its neck arched as it raised its head high and bared its canines in an open mouth snarl. Another shape rounded the corner and trotted up to the side of the other, and once catching sight of her, it as well assumed signs of aggression. Three more hurried up to the other two, but still Ukraine could only stand there petrified as the banging on the window beside her increased in urgency.

America grabbed her and hurried her backwards. Their swift movements triggered a reaction, and the lithe bodies sprang forward with growls in their throats. Three hurled themselves over Russia and scrambled through the mud towards them. Three of them yelped and bolted towards the door; America dragging Ukraine in tow until she remembered how to use her own feet. They leapt inside and closed the door just before a snarling beast crashed against it. All those remaining in the salt circle screeched as they saw a sharp-eyed monster glaring into the room at them, snarling in rage and spitting over the glass as it stood up on its hind legs and scratched its front claws against the wood. The other two jogged around in the background, ears facing forwards and grins permanent.

The one at the front turned its attention away and snapped its head to the side. It dropped back down onto all fours and joined its brethren as something to the side brought them more interest.

"Oh shit, no!" America gasped in immediate understanding.

Many others followed him as he tore through the hall and reached the spot where other people were already gathered. They crowded around the window, breathing rapidly in horrified anticipation.

The animals no longer bristled, but now crowded calmly around Russia's unresponsive form. Black noses lowered to sniff at him and the blood over the rocks. The people began to thump their fists desperately at the window to distract them, but no acknowledgement was returned. The lips of one of the beasts curled back before it sank its teeth into Russia's arm.

"Holy shit!" someone cried.

"Oh god- please no!"

"The gun!" Germany screamed. "Where is it?"

America's heart thudded. He turned to Germany and whimpered, "It's still on the roof!"

After the first piece of flesh had been torn and blood droplets sprayed over the muzzle of another, they pounced upon him. Everyone inside screamed as a crowd of wrestling, gray and yellow shapes blocked out their view of Russia. One-by-one they dropped away from the window and fled, wailing and tripping down the hall. Germany, Britain, and America had been among the first to evacuate.

Ukraine had huddled on the floor by France, Canada, and Latvia. She whipped her head to the side and screeched at the three approaching Investigators, " _Save him! Please, save him!_ "

"We can't!" America cried. "It's too late!"

He fell over the blankets and sobbed loudly. Ukraine shrieked unendingly, grabbing at her face and initiating new screams after each one had died away. This continued on for a minute, where people wailed and sobbed loudly along to join the melody.

Ukraine balled, " _Russia… oh my poor, poor, innocent little brother! Russia! No… Why did this happen?_ "

All those who had seen the body screamed and cried louder as she said these things. America sandwiched his head between two pillows and curled into a ball. The traumatized children who had seen the impact still shrieked.

" _Russiaaaa!_ " she wailed. The crying increased in volume.

Germany finally felt something completely snap within him.

" _Shut up!_ " he screamed. " _Shut up, shut up, shut up!_ "

The room went into an absolute silence. Utter fear lit up in their eyes as Germany glared at them with an utter, animalistic fury. The logic and calm was far gone from him. His bared teeth only resembled to them as nothing short of the ferocious, blood-thirsty wolves that they had seen outside. His posture was rigid and his muscles were flexed to demonstrate nothing but intimidation. His body jerked as he twitched his solid stare between each of them.

Ukraine could not quiet the wail in her throat. Germany roared, " _I said shut up!_ "

"How dare you?" Canada hissed.

Germany stamped towards him.

"What did you just say?" he growled.

"You just killed her brother!" Canada's voice began to rise. "How can you possibly have to nerve to tell her to 'shut up'?"

" _I did not kill him!_ " he cried.

Canada hollered back, "All you had to do was talk to him! But you couldn't handle that now could you? No! You decided to shoot him and chase him all around the house until you shoved him off the roof!"

America wailed, "I didn't shoot him! I was only trying to-"

Canada faced his brother and yelled, "To what, America? Injure him? Sure, that would solve everything! Revenge is sweet, isn't it?"

America cowered from the absolute rage upon Canada's face that was foreign to him.

Britain then said, "We did not push him. He fell."

"Even if I believe that," Canada turned his head to him. "You know that it is your fault. You chased him up there. You were the ones who scared him."

Germany snarled, "It was not my fault! He jumped on his own!"

"It was your fault!" Canada hurled back. "Stop denying it!"

"No"- Germany flashed his eyes down to lock onto Latvia's quivering body- "It was his!"

Before Canada could stop it, Germany snatched Latvia by the throat and pulled him away. He clenched the rope burns unmercifully and shook him harshly.

"Russia was innocent!" Germany bellowed. "You lied to us!"

A stream of cries exited Latvia's mouth.

"I'm sorry- I'm sorry-I'm sorry-I'm sorry-"

Germany crushed his windpipe and his voice cut off. Canada screamed, "Stop it! Let him go!"

Canada dove at him. Germany flashed his eyes to the side and used his free hand to grab and then throw him away. Canada crashed into a stack of pillows, immediately snapping his head back upwards.

"It is your fault!" Germany continued to roar at the tiny Baltic.

His grip loosened enough for Latvia to sob, "It's not! I told you n-not to hurt him! I-I tried to tell-"

Latvia squeaked when he was lifted into the air and strangled again.

" _You saw their face!_ " Germany screamed. " _Tell us who did this!_ "

He slammed Latvia against the ground. He gasped, and curled up in pain although he lifted a terrified eye up to him.

"I can't tell you…" Latvia whimpered. "Please… leave me alone..."

" _Tell me!_ "

A powerful kick was delivered into his scrawny stomach. Latvia was lifted into the air before he rolled away. He remained with his face down so that he could cry into the blankets. Not a single person moved to protect him; only Germany approached his limp body. He knelt down, and grabbed his throat to raise him into an awkward sitting position.

"I am going to find my brother," Germany's voice had dropped and was now disturbingly quiet. "And I am going to get him out of here. Now you tell me. Who. Is. Responsible."

Latvia shook his head very slowly. Germany's other hand wrapped around his throat and locked on. He clenched tighter and tighter, his muscles bulging as he strained to crush. He felt this time that the malachite gem had been caught between his hand and the other's neck, pressing in deep against his trachea. Latvia's bones cracked, and as the energy rapidly drained him, his eyelids dropped.

By now the others were screaming and jumping upon the two. Latvia was pried from Germany's grasp, falling into Lithuania's protective arms. Latvia took in a large inhale as he saw Germany toss away the others like ragdolls and advance towards them.

Latvia clung to Lithuania and began shrieking in Latvian. Germany paused and glowered over them.

He growled at Lithuania,"What did he just say?"

Lithuania's eyes widened and he stared back fearfully at him.

"Did he say who it was?" Germany uttered.

Lithuania gulped, then murmured, "He said… 'Don't kill me, please'."

A cold feeling sunk through Germany's body. The tension in his muscles began to fade, and his eyes drifted over to the shocked faces on either side of him.

 _No… Was I really about to…?_ His heart pattered in the silence.

His voice softened as he lifted a curled hand towards him, "No, I-"

The damage to Latvia's psyche had been done. He mistook the action, and he ripped himself from Lithuania's grasp before tearing away. He raced down the hall opposite from where Russia was, stopped, and then stared back at the others gathered in the salt circle. Germany was up and calling out to him as he ran forward. Latvia was incapable of understanding, and so he yelped and continued off. Germany quickly closed the distance, but as Latvia passed by a room, he felt a gust of wind hit him. He backtracked to sprint into this room.

Germany hopped through the doorway just in time to see Latvia pouncing out the window.

"Latvia- no!"

Germany stared out the window in shock. He popped his head outside and watched the blurry form of Latvia springing away until he disappeared out of sight in the world of darkness and rain. Germany's hand was still reaching out after him, although the other was far gone by now.

He stayed there for a while. Small, undisturbed raindrops touched his face and tapped the sill of the broken window softly.

* * *

Latvia scrambled up a wet tree, bark and moss scraping off in flakes as he pulled himself higher. He nestled himself a third of the way up it in the crook between a thick branch and the trunk. Nothing had seen him nor followed him here. He laid his head against the trunk, hugged his legs, and closed his eyes as the rain continued to fall over him.

Sorrow filled his heart. He heard Germany's voice still ringing in his ears.

 _It is your fault!_

Latvia placed his forehead over his knees and wept.

 _I never wanted this_ , he thought. _I didn't have a choice… Why did it have to be this way? Why?_

The world became darker as the concealed sun drifted away over the horizon. Latvia stayed there for a long time even after it had disappeared, shaking from cold.

 _I want to leave, but… Estonia… I can't let him die! I can't go… I have to stay._

His throat still stung. He was reminded of fear; the feeling of Germany's hands squeezing his throat. He did not want to go back. He knew that the questions would only continue, and the rage would only build up until someone lashed out at him again.

 _They don't understand…_

More time passed. The clouds floated apart, and patches of stars became visible. Latvia took a hold of his costume and squeezed some of the water out of it. He did not yet move from this spot, for he still struggled with indecision.

 _How can I go back?_ he thought. _I cannot tell them why I can't tell them who attacked me. This is all so terrible. What can I possibly do?_

He stroked the dirt off his cheek.

 _Can Canada protect me? Lithuania too? Maybe they will understand. They can get the others to leave me alone._

Latvia listened to the silence of the night. He slowly descended a few branches before stopping and listening again. When he heard nothing and did not see anything in the darkness move, he climbed down further. He paused one last time before he quietly dropped down onto the wet grass.

He took a look around himself at the shadowy trees. The wall of the black mansion towered before him. He padded towards it, checking around himself as he did so. He proceeded to follow the wall, heading towards the corner where he was sure to find light.

He was greeted with nothing but more darkness. When a cloud drifted, the full moon was uncovered, which beamed some light down upon the scene to make the cemetery slightly visible to him. He blinked in confusion. He realized then, that he had mistaken the side of the mansion that he had been on, for the knowledge had escaped him during his panicked determination to escape.

He turned to begin the long route back to the front entrance of the mansion. He soon froze from utter fear. A long howl arose from a place that was unsettlingly close to him. He flashed his head around, searching for a tree that he could climb. The one that he had just spent the two hours in was now too far away, and too close to where he had heard that howl.

He made out the shape of a thick, gnarled tree that was seemingly not so far away from him in the cemetery. He jogged lightly towards it, trying not to make a lot of noise that would attract attention to himself. The first few graves were behind him when a few more howls rose up, in a harmony that wavered marvelously in different tones. Chills rolled down his spine. The deep throated moans were more similar to a chorus of ghosts wailing than wolves communicating with their pack.

The death song that arose from the forest got louder, or rather- closer.

 _I should never have left that tree!_ his mind gasped.

He loped towards the gnarled tree, and the hunting calls died down to be replaced with savage growls. Latvia whipped his head to the side and inhaled sharply when he spotted a multitude of glowing eyes piercing through the darkness among the pines across the field. Latvia threw away his cautious approach, and he broke out into a mad sprint towards the lone tree. The beasts burst from the trees and flowed like water through the tombstones, steering around them with practiced ease.

Latvia stumbled around the tombstones, barely managing to hold himself upright as he ran. His breathing came out as rapid, shallow gasps, while his legs rose up and sprang off the ground powerfully with each impact. The tunnel vision that centered upon the tree intensified, but he snapped his head to the side to evaluate the time that he had to reach it.

He squeaked. The huge black shapes were very nearly beside him and he could see the white of their flashing fangs.

"No!" Latvia screamed. "You already took Rus-"

A yellow-eyed monster sailed over a tombstone and stamped its paws in the mud. Teeth nipped at his calves as Latvia wasted no time to flee from it. A vertical line of demons raced after him through the night cemetery, and Latvia could hear their jaws snapping and he felt the breath of the leader hot on his back.

He looked over his shoulder and screamed at the massive, powerful beast a metre behind him. The tree was still many metres away. Latvia knew that he was not going to make it, and that his death shone on the exposed canines behind him. The only thing that surprised him was the tombstone that he crashed into at full speed, where the impact of it against his knee shattered his kneecap to pieces.

He flipped over it and rolled in the mud. He clutched at his destroyed knee that leaked a warm, unseen liquid over his hands. He tried to drag himself away, but the pain was intolerable, and he collapsed on his side, staring helplessly at the demons that began to spread out to form a ring around him. He was overcome with suffering, and he cried as all hope was plucked from his heart as easily as a hair would be.

Latvia's eyes slowly shut.

"I'm so sorry, Russia," he whispered.

There was a single bark beside him, and Latvia heard the skidding of claws. His eyes peeked open to watch the black shape closest to him scramble away on stiff legs. Its ears flicked back, just like all the others in the pack, and their tails dropped and curled. They pattered backwards, high whines in their throats before one-by-one, they turned and fled in the opposite direction.

 _What? Why are they running?_

He watched them sprint far away, on a solid course towards the forest they had emerged from. He sniffed, tried moving, but collapsed again. He let out a sorry mewl, before the thought struck him past all the pain.

 _Something must have scared them!_

Latvia very slowly rolled over. He finally saw the two very long, black legs that had stopped beside him. His trembling eyes then gazed upwards to behold a black skull face with glowing white eyes hovering over his prone, defenseless form while long, spindly fingers reached down for him.

* * *

From inside the mansion frantic, bloodcurdling screams could be heard faintly in the distance. Lithuania slapped his hands over his mouth.

"Oh no... _Latvia_..." he whimpered.

They all remained petrified and listened in horror to how the screams soon suddenly ended.

Germany stared forward and very slowly raised his hands over his face. All of his past actions flashed through his mind, and the tears now broke free and burned his fingers with their heat. He could hear the others recommence their session of wailing and sobbing, but this time, he did not interrupt it. He instead took part in it, in the end becoming one of the loudest participating.

A memory that seemed so old hit him, of a time when he had stood in front of the crowd with determination and hope. He remembered it so clearly; the promise he had made that day.

 _"We will stick together and watch each other's backs, so that when all of this is over, we will all get out of here with no one getting left behind!"_

His nails dug into his flesh until he bled.

 _Dear god, what have I done?_


	10. Grasping at the Threads of Sanity

_The great wave of the tide moved further along the island and the water lifted. Softly, surrounded by a fringe of inquisitive bright creatures, itself a silver shape beneath the steadfast constellations, Simon's dead body moved out towards the open sea._

* * *

The crying continued well into the night. No one talked to each other; they only collapsed into themselves so that the rest of the world was cut off and it was just them trapped in their internal cages of depression and hopelessness. At one point in the night, Germany stood up and left without saying anything. He disappeared upstairs, and only a while later had he returned with the wet rifle in his arms. His movement had temporarily distracted the others from their suffering, and they paused to take note of the red splotches and the scratches littering his face. For the next while, they cried silently while watching the now tearless Germany drying off the rifle with a blanket.

America stood and walked up to the table. This new, sudden movement caught the attention of the swollen-eyed crowd, and so they watched him stop in front of the logbook. They all regarded every detail of him; his exhausted face where dark rings fell under his bloodshot eyes, the red that streaked like a web over his skin, and his fallen posture that signified the snap of all his confidence and energy. America could barely lift his head to gaze upon them all. When he grasped onto this ability, he sniffed before being the first to talk in many hours.

"I'm done."

Silence replied. He shook his head repeatedly as he continued in a grainy whisper.

"I am no hero. I thought I could save everyone, but I have only hurt others during this entire game. These last five days have been the worst of my life, but now I know what kind of person I really am. I know now that I was arrogant to think that I should be a leader. No one has the right to trust me. So... I'm done being in charge. I'm only going to get more people killed, because I am nothing but a murderer."

America turned away and slowly walked back to his sleeping area with a gaze that was directed only forward. He then carefully lifted a corner of a blanket so that he could slide under it and disappear from sight. The eyes stayed focused on the still lump.

"There's no need for that," Britain sat up and shook the blanket-concealed form. "Come now. It was an accident. None of this was supposed to happen."

"It is our fault," the whimper bled through the blankets. "Canada was right... We didn't even try to talk to him! I just tried to shoot him be-because I wasn't thinking… I am a terrible person!"

"But we thought he was the culprit," Britain said. "We were damn sure of it because of what Latvia said."

America groaned, "It is not Latvia's fault. He… he told us not to touch him. The reason Russia is de-… Everything is our fault..."

"We weren't going to hurt him on the roof," Britain continued. "The thunder scared him. That wasn't us."

America replied in a tight voice, " _We_ scared him. He thought it was my gun… he was trying to dodge the nonexistent bullet."

The blanket quivered and thin sobs escaped out from under it.

"He must have been alive!" Britain exclaimed. "Come now- don't any of you remember the time he jumped out of an airplane without a parachute? He may have hit some snow, but he still broke all his bones and survived it! We came to help him. The wolves stopped us. We could of saved him if it weren't for them!"

At the side China shook his head as he ran his fingers up through his hair. He said quietly, "I hope the fall killed him before the wolves got to him... That is not a good way to go."

The crowd quivered together like foliage in the wind.

France then said quietly, "Is there another door that leads outside? If we are going to go out again and collect food… we should probably avoid that area."

It was understood what he meant. No one wanted to have to walk by whatever messy remains were left of Russia.

Ukraine cried out again," _Poor Russia_ … _oh, poor Russia_ … We have to do something for him!"

Germany scrunched up his face and turned away as he grimaced.

"What did you have in mind?" he hesitantly asked.

"I don't want him to rot," she sniffed. "When we get out of here… I want him to be home. I want to bury him... I don't want this house to have him."

Germany looked over at Romania.

"Do you have any large freezers?" he asked.

"Yes," he said. "Two downstairs in the cellar though. At the very end behind the wine tanks. I already took up all the food from there, and we already finished everything off. They're empty."

Germany nodded solemnly at Ukraine, "We'll get him once it's light out."

Lithuania whispered, "Can we do the same for Latvia, when we find him?"

"Of course," Germany murmured back.

It would be daylight in a few more hours. The room went quiet as the crowd stared out the windows, waiting for the light to come back just as they always believed that it would. Once again, they pressed close to each other, holding their breaths occasionally, and clinging as though if the contact was lost, then those beside them would be snatched away forever.

Lithuania walked over to Ukraine when he noticed how she now sat alone. The space around her seemed so empty, where two others were supposed to fill. He and Poland reached her side and sat down beside her. She turned her head to gaze into his emerald eyes.

"I'm so sorry, Ukraine," Lithuania whispered.

As they stared into each other's eyes, they understood the heartache deep within the other. They knew the pain of losing someone important to them. Threads stretched out and pieced into their skin, slowly pulling to seal the gap. Lithuania fell into Ukraine, tears dripping off his face as he held her tightly and as she wrapped her arms around him. They embraced each other, so that they were no longer alone with their suffering. They now cried together, from the cruelty of this world that they were imprisoned in which the darkness was no longer restrained to the shadows, but now resided in some of the fluttering hearts around them.

The first glow appeared in the sky as dawn arrived. Ukraine watched the outside world brightening, and as the deep orange ball rose up over the horizon, fresh, sparkling tears ran down her face. The time was soon. Lithuania's head rested over the same shoulder that Russia's had once before, and Ukraine only stroked his long hair very slowly and gently with one hand. Her other hand meanwhile, refused to let go of his quivering body as the sun rose higher and painted the sky with bleeding colours.

Lithuania kept his eyes closed as he accepted the comfort that he so desperately needed, and Ukraine did not let him go because she desired something to care for and to bring to peace. She embraced him even after Germany, Britain, France, and Canada rose to their feet and headed towards the door, bearing many blankets in their arms. She comforted Lithuania to save him from the unbearable pain that she felt now. She watched these four people exit the mansion and walk around to the left towards the collection of rocks. She stared at those clean blankets in their arms as they walked past the windows; the ones that she realized would soon no longer be that way.

After what seemed like a time too soon to Ukraine, they were seen returning. Her trembling increased as the door opened inwards and every eye in the room was raised. She was amazed that she still had tears left to cry, although in truth she had many more left to give. They poured down her face as she clung to Lithuania and watched them come in.

The four stopped and one-by-one met Ukraine's eyes.

"His body's gone," Britain said.

She replied with a choked whisper, "What?"

"There's nothing there," Canada murmured.

She stroked down Lithuania's back before slipping on her shoes, rising, and walking towards the door. No one stopped her this time from going outside. She passed through the doorway untroubled, immediately continuing on to look to the left.

It was hard for her eyes to behold at first, so she wandered closer until she was beside the exact collection of rocks Russia had been folded over the day before. There was not a sign that he had ever been there. The rain had washed away every drop of blood, and no strips or balls of gore had been left in the grass. There was absolutely no red skeleton carcass like that of those of the animals in the forest, lying right before her.

Ukraine gazed to the soaked grass that had been pressed down. The ground was scored with multiple claw marks. There seemed to be a general direction, and she carefully trailed it for a few metres. In some parts there was more mud than grass, and in one of these locations, she crouched down suddenly. Her eyes examined a long gouge that scarred the ground. It was the unmistakable mark of a heel digging deep into the mud, and beside it was a huge paw print stamped there like a fossil.

 _That mark is not shallow_ , she realized.

France appeared beside her.

"Ukraine," France murmured. "What is it?"

She whispered, "Russia survived the fall… He was still alive."

She pointed out into the forest.

"They dragged him away," she continued as her shining eyes found France's,"We have to look for him!"

France uttered, "He might just be in the bushes over there. The wolves might have thrown him around a bit."

"No," Ukraine breathed. "He's alive. I know he is- he must be!"

She scrambled across the lawn. France tore off after her, gasping, "Ukraine! He couldn't have fought them off in that state!"

"He is strong!" she exclaimed.

"He fell from the roof- Please. It is not good to get your hopes up so much..."

She jumped into the sparse forest and whipped her head in every direction.

France said, "You saw what they started to do to him. Stop, please- before you see something that you really shouldn't see. Let us take care of it instead. We'll look around here after breakfast."

"He must have escaped!" she cried. She scoured the ground for a single sign, hoping that perhaps she would be lucky enough to find a footprint. In a few moments, a black patch of cloth was snatched between two of her fingers. Her eyes gleamed excitedly as she rubbed it between them.

France's eyes widened as he peered past her to an area she had not seen yet. One where bent branches pointed at the sky with broken, white and red-stained wood, and where mud had been thrown over disturbed leaves. He could see plainly that this was a scene of struggle, and he surmised what lay just out of sight behind the thickets.

She was about to turn towards it, but France quickly held her shoulders and turned her towards the mansion.

"Let's show the other's the cloth, shall we?" he asked. "They'll definitely want to go looking for him. How about we wait until we have some weapons before we go searching?"

"Oh, you think the wolves are still around here?" she asked nervously. She held the cloth tighter to her chest as she walked alongside France.

"We thought that they only come out at night, but that is clearly not the case," he replied.

Everyone in the main room looked up as France returned inside with Ukraine.

"Why were they right there?" she whimpered aloud for all to hear. "In that exact spot at that exact time? There… must be a reason!"

"Reason?" Britain echoed.

She raised the hand clutching the cloth high into the air for all to see.

"They came to take him!" she cried. "Someone sent them!"

"Sent them?" Germany muttered. "But, they are wolves... wild animals."

"Possessed wolves," America reminded them from under the blankets.

"Please," Ukraine pleaded, lowering her hand and opening it to show the cloth to Germany. "Look. There's no blood on this, but it was ripped off. And the drag marks in the mud showed resistance. He was alive! He _is_ alive! There is no gore outside because _they were never going to eat him!_ "

"You think that the wolves are being used now to capture more people?" Germany asked.

"I saw one bite his arm," Austria uttered. "Then they all just started… doing the same…"

"We all ran away," America said. "Like cowards. Now we don't even know what happened or where they might have taken him..."

Lithuania perked up, "Do you think Latvia is okay too then? That they were only taken? There was howling before he started screaming. If the wolves aren't eating people, maybe- maybe he is alright too..."

"This was all a setup," Canada's eyebrows raised. "It is multiple steps- and Russia must have been right!"

"What do you mean?" Germany muttered.

"Based upon what Russia said, he and Latvia were on the target list," Canada explained. "And they are missing now. This person used the chaos to snatch them. First, they got you to turn against Russia, by using Latvia. They forced him somehow to tell us that it was Russia, so that you would attack him. They wanted us to find Latvia- they were not trying to kill him. They closed the door on purpose so that we would notice it and go into the room to 'save' Latvia.

"Whatever they threatened Latvia with made him have to lie, because Latvia did say that he 'had no choice'. He also refused to say anything at first because he knew that Russia was innocent. Then, once you weakened Russia, they took him. And because Latvia would eventually be exposed as a liar, the person knew that you would snap and attack him too. So they predicted that Latvia would flee again once he felt that his life was being threatened. Once he was outside, the wolves were sent out to get him too."

Germany was breathtaken.

"Who the hell are we dealing with?" he whispered.

"Someone very dangerous," France replied. "Who has studied a lot about human psychology probably."

"Everything then…" Britain murmured. "Absolutely _everything_ was part of a plan."

"Russia was right about Norway," Germany said. "It was a distraction so that it would be harder to notice the true pattern. He was permitted to see the black of his clothes too, so that we would blame each other and heighten our suspicions."

"What about Finland?" Denmark asked. "What purpose could that serve?"

Canada replied, "To mess with your psyches. This person supplied you with weapons and rage, hoping that you would use them."

"But how could they have known we were going to the shed in the first place? I mean, the very first time?" Denmark continued. "The beast was already down there. And how could they have known Finland would be going down, when Germany announced that he would be doing it?"

"How does this person seem to know everything that goes on here?" Germany sighed. "I don't know. They are always on top of all the happenings, and apparently very far ahead of us too. There is probably another thing under partial development that we haven't yet realized."

"Like, how do we win then?" Poland piped up from beside Lithuania. "If this person is so smart and is using black magic, what chance do we have?"

"There are clues somewhere," Germany said. "We just have to keep looking. Eventually, this person will make a mistake, because no matter how smart you are, accidents happen. We have more food now. We can afford to wait for the slip-up, while being careful and protecting ourselves from being the next victim."

"And those on the list-" Canada located each of them with his eyes- "Be extra careful."

"Why are they going after Soviet countries though?" America murmured. "Who has such a big grudge against them?"

"You?" Iceland uttered.

"No way man!" the blanket gasped. "Just Russia. I had nothing against the little guys! We gave some of them NATO memberships. We- I, want to help those guys!"

"Based on current findings," Germany carried on. "It actually seems that one of the Eastern countries- perhaps someone supposed to be a part of the target list- is responsible. The three-barred cross of the Eastern Orthodox Church was found on the wall in the tunnel."

"The nations who have many believers of that religion are all on the hit-list," Britain said. "So one of them might be playing the victim role."

France waved off the suspicion with, "The culprit might have purposefully drawn the cross there so that we would take our attention away from the Western and Asian nations!"

"Good point," Britain followed up. "We can't even trust that."

Germany frowned, "It doesn't make it easier then. Now it is going to be hard to determine what is a slip-up or clue, for this person cannot be predicted yet."

France looked over at him, "Then what do we plan on doing today?"

A micro-expression of awe flashed upon Germany's face. Even after his tantrum from last night, they still seemed to want him in charge. Even after he screamed at Ukraine and throttled Latvia, they still considered him the best person to control them.

His face settled into an expression of seriousness; the commander that they wanted to see. He replied, "First, we go to the place Latvia was possessed. I want to know why that spot in the forest was so special."

Then he immediately dove into the depths of his own mind.

 _Why do they still look up to me?_ Germany thought. _Have they not lost all trust in me, and fear me now? Or is it possible that… they agree with what I did? When I told them to quiet, did they feel better for it? That one person had not succumbed to depression and hopelessness? Could it be that a part of them enjoyed that I was screaming at them, because they felt that someone had not given up?_

He remembered snatching Latvia from Canada, wrapping his large hand around his scrawny throat and raising his squirming body in the air in front of everyone. Reconsidering it, Germany knew that he must have appeared as a savage for employing his strength to intimidate and subdue someone so small that could not defend himself from such an attack.

However, he remembered how for the longest time, no one had spoken out against his actions. They had merely watched him toss around the body, shake, beat, choke, and scream in his face. Only one person sympathized with Latvia, and that had been Canada. Canada had been there to see Latvia hanging from the bedpost with the rope they had used before to tie up Russia. He was the one to catch him and hold him while he cried. No one else had been there. They only found out that Latvia was a liar, and they had agreed with Germany when he had claimed that it was therefore Latvia's fault for Russia's apparent death.

 _They wanted the answer as much as I did then_ , Germany thought. _And when Latvia refused to give it, they were alright with me doing whatever it took to get it from him. So perhaps that means then, if I hadn't started hurting him, someone else would have. Their eyes had been sadistic until I went a little too far. Then, they realized what was happening. Unless, no one but maybe Lithuania cared about Latvia's wellbeing. They just didn't want to lose the answer._

 _Then, if they still trust me, they don't see anything wrong with what I did last night to him. Even if he is dead now, they still think that I did nothing. That Latvia had it coming._

Lithuania said, "He fell into a tunnel in the middle of the forest and came out acting weird. Something is down there."

"Another tunnel?" Germany mused. "So there might be a lot more hiding out there."

"There were rocks around it," Poland said.

These words were surprisingly useful for Germany. He said, "There was a ring of rocks around the exit of the last one too. They must be used to mark them."

"We can look out for them this way," Britain said. "But it still does not guarantee that the culprit has not removed the rocks away from the entrance or exit of the tunnel that they might have hidden all the missing people in. If they are familiar with the location, then they wouldn't worry about marking it."

"We've been putting a lot of our past efforts into the forest," Germany said. "And if we continue searching like we already are, then we will find that tunnel."

Germany nodded to Poland and Lithuania.

"You're group will join mine. You will show us the location, and I will go investigate the tunnel."

Lithuania nodded. He felt a large amount of relief that he would now be allowed into the group with the leaders, who carried a weapon. He and Poland, the survivors of the group, could now have protection and more eyes checking around them. They would now travel with two other people, for Germany's group had donated Italy to the inside, and had lost Russia.

Germany got up to his feet, but Canada called out, "Germany, you forgot again."

"What?" he uttered irritably. Canada voice was so soft, so alike that of a mother trying to remind a clueless child of something.

"Breakfast."

He internally groaned. Everytime he wanted to snap into action, it seemed that this would always hold him back. He hated having to wait upon the _weak_ crowd to get a little something to eat before heading out. He bitterly compared this to a gang of sniveling children who wanted a snack before recess.

 _Most of them don't understand. They haven't had anyone close to them taken away yet. Britain seems to understand, but damn Canada can't seem to get that there are more important things to be getting at. We cannot wait to cater to every individual's need. They need discipline! They need to toughen up, because if we are soft on them like you want me to be, they will only be helpless to attack! And how can we be sure that every second we waste is bringing one of the missing people closer to death? We need to find them as soon as possible!_

"I'm going now," he growled. "My group is coming with me. If we find and save the others, I'll tell their loved ones that they did nothing to save them."

"Germany," Canada cut in. "You don't need to take it that far. Come on. It is just a few minutes, and then everyone has the energy to go on. They'll be more awake, so searching will be easier."

"I'm searching the tunnel now," Germany muttered. "I can wait for breakfast until then, because I'd rather not sit on my ass while Prussia dies in those few minutes I wasted eating acorns."

He glared at Lithuania and Poland. America was already at his side.

"Up. Now."

Poland frowned, but Lithuania sprang forward. Germany snatched the flashlight from the table and marched the four of them towards the door. Canada's eyes widened, and after a quick glance around the room, it seemed that only a select few had noticed it. They appeared nervous, and Canada could feel the uneasy flutter in his chest.

His mouth parted, but the reminder never escaped his lips. Canada glanced at the untouched logbook, and then he looked back up to see Germany and the others departing outside.

 _Fewer people have been using it_ , Canada swallowed, although the uneasiness stayed. _When… will people forget to sign the papers? What will happen then, when we no longer keep track of each other? Where is the order going?_

He placed a palm over his forehead.

 _Why didn't I call out to Germany?_ Canada thought. _Am I not one of the Investigators? A leader? What held me back?_

He then noticed it. Three of their weapons had been taken. What was left was half a hedge clipper blade, and a shovel- the only tool that seemed useful from what could be found in the shed in the forest. Germany had however, taken the scythe, rifle, and the other half of the hedge clippers.

 _Why did he take nearly everything?_ Canada's eyes widened. _Just how much faith is he putting into that tunnel? No… he took the most dangerous weapons. Is it that he does not trust us?_

He took it upon himself to get the others going. He collected Italy, and they went to the kitchen together to begin preparing a breakfast from the supplies that had been collected in the forest from yesterday. Canada frowned slightly when he gazed into a full bowl of acorns, realizing now that he would have to take the time deshelling them. To speed things along, he left to ask Japan for assistance, who gladly gave it.

For the first few minutes, they worked in silence, until Canada realized that perhaps he could talk about his misgivings with these two. They were both close to Germany.

Canada began with, "How do you feel about last night?"

Italy gave a short yip and stiffened, and Japan's expression dropped.

"Ohhh, I don't feel good thinking about it..." Italy moaned.

"Me too," Japan said. "Everything that happened last night was very unfortunate."

Canada asked quietly, "Who's fault do you think it is, truly?"

"Fault?" Japan shook his head. "I do not think it was anyone's. I think it was a terrible accident caused only by the person responsible."

Italy quivered, "I don't know… It all happened so fast!"

Canada sighed, "But at the very end, when we were all together… How did you feel? Do you think Germany was right to be so angry? Did Latvia deserve to be hurt, even after he lied?"

Japan replied, "I do not blame Mr. Latvia for lying. I agree that there must have been a reason for why he did what he did. I know that he could not tell us, so I do not think that Mr. Germany should have hurt him. He was never going to tell us anyway."

Italy murmured, "It was really scary… I've never seen Germany like that before… I thought that he was going to break him by accident!"

"Germany is your friend," Canada said to them both. "If both of you thought that he was wrong, why didn't you stand up to him?"

"Me?" Italy still shivered. "He was so scary and I didn't know what to do! I didn't want him to get mad at me…"

Japan said, "I was not sure if he was able to listen to reason at that time. He is better this morning, but last night… I also did not want him to turn on me."

Canada shook his head, "But if you both feel this way, then we could have stood up against him… Instead, only I tried, and no one supported me."

"My sincerest apologies," Japan stopped to face Canada. When they made eye contact, he bowed slightly. Canada blinked, realizing that it was indeed true that this person regretted being a bystander the last night.

"I'm sorry!" Italy cried. "I didn't know what to do! Germany is just so big, and he was so loud- I am just so small and I didn't know what to do!"

"I understand," Canada murmured. "But I wonder… were we all against it, but just no one did anything until the last second?"

"Maybe some of us were against it," Japan said. "But I think most people agree with what happened."

"Agree? Why would they allow this?" Canada gasped.

He replied, "They maybe think that Latvia deserved it."

"No, he didn't! Germany was insane last night. Violence is not the answer, and what Germany did was dangerous! Latvia was already hurt and scared, and if he really couldn't tell us, then we should have left him alone. Germany just did not want to take responsibility for what he and the others did to Russia, and the search for his brother is making him unempathic to everyone else."

Italy said, "Yeah, Germany's been getting really weird. He hasn't been talking to me at all! I sleep beside him, but he acts like I don't even exist! I don't want to say anything because he seems so busy, and I miss Prussia too so I don't want him to get the wrong idea if I tell him that he's freaking me out…"

"He has not been talking to me so much either," Japan said. "He gives me information, but we haven't been so close in these past few days. He is pushing others away, and he has only been close to Mr. America and Mr. Britain."

"The other two that are losing it," Canada muttered. "They are all forgetting their emotions. Maybe America got better after he took responsibility for what happened instead of shoving it off like Britain and Germany. Speaking of Britain… he has grown rather cold, don't you think so?"

Italy agreed wholeheartedly, "Yeah, he's really weird! It's like he has no emotions!"

"Why is that?" Canada mused. "He hasn't lost anyone, so why is he like this?"

"You can always ask him," Japan said.

"I'll do that then," Canada nodded. "It's better to do it now that Germany's out."

They began passing out the servings to each person. Canada was the last out of the kitchen with his things, but he was filled with a sort of dreadful enthusiasm as he came up to where Britain and France were eating side-by-side. Canada knelt down beside him with his glass and plate, which was not unusual as since the beginning, the leaders had gathered together at meals to discuss the current events.

He did not mind that France was there, so Canada began with, "Britain, I want to talk to you."

"About what?" he asked.

"Well, to put it simply, your emotions."

"Emotions?" Britain mused. "What are you getting at?"

"You have agreed with Germany on every decision," Canada said. "Why is that?"

"It is because he's been making all the right decisions, and that is all there is to it. He knows what he is doing, and he has the spirit that everyone else needs to get on."

"You don't think he is taking things too far?" Canada blinked.

"Not at all," Britain replied steadily. "His responses are appropriate. People are being lazy and unhelpful. They complain about every little thing, and seem to forget that they can't even come up with any better solutions. Germany has at least kept these rebellious actions down so that we can still work together. Even if the strategy includes yelling, it gets the point across."

"But what about Russia?"Canada asked. "Germany was wrong then."

"Russia was not our fault."

"America shot at him!"

"I don't agree with what America did," Britain sighed. "But at that time, we were dead sure that the culprit was Russia. With all of the suspicions against him, the confirmation of a victim seemed enough. We never once expected that Latvia would lie. Why would he? At least, that is what we thought unconsciously. He knew that we would react harshly. He made us overreact. It is Latvia's fault."

"But I was there!" Canada exclaimed. "I heard him. Latvia told you not to do anything!"

"I don't recall," Britain said. "But if he did, it is a good, innocent cover-up. I would say that the culprit could be him, but I don't believe he got himself up there on his own, and he is not tall enough to have stabbed Norway. He's not even wearing black- he's in a bloody rabbit costume for crying out loud!"

"But, you really do think that Germany should have hurt him like that?"

"Of course," he nodded. "Latvia held the answer to all of our problems. If he told us, we wouldn't have to keep risking our lives to find the missing people who could be dying right now. And if he had told us the truth in the first place instead of being a dirty liar, then Russia would be here right now."

Canada looked to the side.

"France?" he asked.

France frowned, touched his chin, and looked up to Canada.

"I think I am going to have to go with Britain on this one," he admitted. "We were all in the same room. If Latvia had told us who it was, we could have grabbed them. He must have lied to protect someone he is close to, which is wrong. We needed Latvia to tell us so we could save everybody else. Blaming Russia was a crime."

"I would say that Latvia deserves whatever he got out there last night," Britain pulled his lips to the side. "But we still need him alive, so I hope we can capture him."

"So you can hurt him again?" Canada whispered.

"Whatever it takes to get the answer."

Canada gasped quietly and looked at Britain with a shocked gaze. He asked hesitantly, "You… wouldn't torture him, would you?"

"Our friends have been tortured, and he is choosing to not do a thing to stop it!" Britain exclaimed. "We need the answer no matter what!"

The next gasp from Canada was louder. The look in his eyes was more terrified.

"Britain…" he whispered. "What happened to you?"

"Me?" he demanded. "You're the one being illogical! You think that protecting the rights of a guilty person is better than saving the lives of many innocents!"

"But we don't know Latvia's reason for lying!" Canada protested. "He might have been threatened with something, but is not even allowed to say what he was threatened with, or that he was threatened at all!"

"He would have told us eventually if you didn't keep trying to get in the way!"

"We're not savages!" Canada cried. "We have to be humane! You must understand the suffering of others and be considerate of it! You will get your answers- torture is not necessary!"

"Your way didn't work," Britain muttered. "You held him in your arms, but he still lied to you. You can't be gentle. Germany was right to employ violence. It is what people react to."

"Why don't you feel anything?" Canada asked. "Where did your humanity go?"

"Having logic and intelligence is better than uncontained sympathy," Britain replied. "I stopped myself from feeling emotions once we confirmed that ghosts are involved. They feed off negative energy, so I will not supply them with anything to let them grow stronger. You should do the same, Canada. Sadness and fear will only makes things worse."

"If we desensitize ourselves to tragedy, then we lose what keeps us human. And if there is no fear, then our deaths will be just around the corner."

"The insanity started when the game did," Britain smirked. "We just didn't know it yet. But your idea of insanity is different than mine in this case. You think that the loss of rules and doing inhumane things is insanity. I think the loss of logic and doing things without reason is insanity. You therefore call us insane for using illegal methods to solve problems, but you fail to consider why we have to do what we do. You are like a lawbook. You aren't allowing room for exceptions."

Canada's heart thudded. There was something chillingly true in Britain's words, and no matter how much he wanted to deny it, he simply could not pull together a refutal. He instead flashed his eyes to France, desperately hoping that he could speak up, perhaps affirming that Britain was wrong with reasons that Canada was unable to grasp onto right now. However, France's face remained serious, and he stared back at Canada with a slight frown contaminating his lips.

"It is true," France murmured.

A weight plunged within him, fast and sudden like a rock cast into a lake. Canada was petrified for a few long moments. Then, a strong desire to leave them hit him, so he gathered his currently untouched plate and stood.

"Something wrong, Canada?" Britain carefully slid the food off his fork with his teeth.

"This mansion has changed you," Canada backed away. "And I don't recognize you anymore. Torture? Revenge? We are supposed to be happy. We came here to have fun. Who have you become?"

"This is not some English novel report," Britain muttered. "It is easy to say overly used poetic phrases like 'that is not Britain anymore' because of 'tragic events that he has endured'. Don't you realize that this is the choice I am making? That I am not some victim who has been corrupted by this situation? You do not have the right to pity us."

"But you are being manipulated," Canada gasped out. "You are-"

"No one is manipulating me," Britain glared at him. "I am in control of myself."

"You really aren't-"

"Don't pity me. Don't act like you are superior."

"I'm not. I'm just scared."

"Of what?" Britain tilted his head slightly.

"You guys..." Canada whispered.

"Why is that?"

"You want to hurt people!" he cried. "What are you going to do once this is all over? What will you think when you look back and recall everything you did here? If you torture or kill somebody, you can never take that back!"

"I won't regret hurting Latvia if we get our hands on him," Britain took another bite of food. "Even if he starts crying and bleeding, if he is still refusing to give us the key out of this Hell, then it's all the same to me."

"The same?" Canada's voice was hoarse.

Britain shrugged, "When it comes to a traitorous weasel like him… I feel nothing quite frankly."

"You can't be serious…"

He took another bite, then repeated, "I feel nothing."

Canada groaned softly, "You… You really are insane."

Britain only scoffed as Canada left them to sit with Japan, China, and Italy. Italy's brother sat close by, with Spain and Portugal. Canada could be seen talking to them now with furrowed brows, and based off of Romano's fearful reaction, Canada was discussing the same things with them. It was as though he was conducting some kind of poll. A question of "Are you for or against Germany?".

 _Idiot_ , Britain thought. _You're only going to bring chaos with this mutiny. Germany knows what he's doing. I know what I'm doing. Back off. You're not some nurse caring for helpless patients. This is real life, and this is a serious situation. No one should be babied._

 _I'll have to tell Germany about this._

* * *

Germany and America followed Lithuania and Poland across the flattened grass of the cemetery that squelched beneath their feet. The ground was waterlogged and promptly drenched their feet, adding to the discomfort of the cold air hardly warmed by the rising sun surrounding them. As they shivered slightly and continued on, Lithuania scoured the area where it had been likely that Latvia's screams had arisen from. They climbed up a short hill, but when Lithuania checked over his shoulder, he saw nothing but rows of worn, cold tombstones.

He frowned and looked on ahead. They stalked into the forest, where almost instantly they stumbled upon a stampede of paw prints in the mud.

"More?" Germany voiced his thoughts. "Or the same ones?"

Lithuania glanced at them nervously. The prints headed pointedly in one direction, sharp and precise.

 _Be okay, Latvia_ … he thought.

They stepped through them as though wading through a river. They passed through without a problem, and Lithuania took the lead, remembering exactly where they had gone yesterday. They found the oak trees from before, and Lithuania realized how close they were coming to the site.

Eventually, he slowed and pointed.

"There," he said.

His finger levelled onto a ring of gray rocks. They approached it cautiously, until Germany could peer over the rocks and observe the sloped drop into the hole. He turned the hedge clipper half in his hand until he felt that it was in a good position to quickly slash. The flashlight was fished from his pocket and clenched in his left hand. He turned to quickly affirm that America was content with the rifle around him, and Lithuania keeping the scythe at ease against his side.

He did not pause to tell them what he planned on doing. He crouched down over the rocks with the hedge clipper blade outstretched in front of him while the flashlight was held closer. He clicked on the flashlight to illuminate the damp slope downwards that was scored with gripping hand prints and scraping footprints that indicated Latvia's ascent. Germany allowed his upper body to slide over the mud as he lowered himself to shine the light deeper into the tunnel. When nothing came out at him, he lifted himself up and slid his legs through between his arms. He shuffled himself downwards carefully until the tunnel widened and he was able to stand on the bottom.

He raised the flashlight, and but a few metres away, he found the end. Against the dirt wall, a metre away from where Latvia's footsteps ended, a large, slumped form was stationed. A small skeleton pressed against the wall with its skull turned to the side either as though bashful or watching him cautiously from the corner of its no longer existing eye. Germany had the hedge clipper blade up front in case a mist would seep out from its hiding place in the old, fragile bones.

He knelt down and stared at it with interest. It had a rotting clothes draping off it, and the bones were drenched by mud that had likely leaked from the ceiling onto it many times. An especially large clot was stuck to its forehead. Germany reached the tip of the hedge clipper forward to scrape the ball off.

Once removed, a deep carving in the frontal bone was revealed. Germany leaned to the side to get a better look at it. A pattern of precise dark slits in the bones made the Orthodox cross quite recognizable.

"Here again," he murmured to himself. "There must be a purpose to these… likely, a bad one."

His arm shot forward and stabbed through the cross with a dull crunch. He twisted the hedge clipper half in his hand so that the blade drilled a circle in the skull, and because of the small size of it, the hedge clipper cut into the orbital socket and extended the gaping hole. Germany yanked the blade out easily, although the pull caused the skull to fall from the body and nestle by a curled, skeletal hand on the floor.

 _Should take care of the one in that other tunnel too_ , he thought.

He tapped at the ragged clothing with the blade, but touched nothing but bone. He glanced over his shoulder, then backed away from the skeleton while alternating his head between facing it and checking the darkness behind him. He did this on his own, forgetting about the presence of the guards aboveground who had yet to yell out an alarm.

When he came up under the light, he clicked off the flashlight and tucked it in the pocket. He clenched the hedge clipper half while he army crawled up the slope. He stepped over the rocks with a front smeared with filth, but after a quick scan, the others were glad to find him unharmed.

"It was a short tunnel with a skeleton at the end," he explained concisely. "It had the Orthodox cross carved into its forehead, but I destroyed it."

"Ah," America murmured.

"But," Germany frowned as they carried on deeper into the forest. "Not a single sign nor hint as to where they can be."

"This game is so unfair..." America murmured. "They never gave us a single clue! Wouldn't they have gotten more entertainment in watching us try solving something but then failing?"

"I think they want to drag it on," Germany replied. "It seems to be like a score, where they see how many people they can snatch before we find them."

"What the hell's the point of this?" America groaned. "What do they want? How many have to go before they show us some terms? How many can they take, or will they stop? The pattern might not be real, and they might keep going until no one is left. What will that be like? I mean to be that last person, knowing that you are alone and that no one can save you. The last hope. I can't even imagine. Ghosts, demons, possessed wolves, no clues whatsoever… miles of land…"

Germany said, "Don't ramble. It won't come down to that. All we have to do is be careful."

"But we can't control these things!" America exclaimed. "I get it if we were just against a person, but we can't just beat everything! Ah… this is why I hate ghosts so much, just can't punch them in the face."

"We have weapons and we work together," Germany said firmly. "As long as we have these things, we can keep going."

* * *

France took Britain towards the site he had caught a glimpse of when out with Ukraine that morning. Liechtenstein, Austria, and Switzerland waited behind, where they would not see the gore if it turned out to be there.

They pushed away some low hanging branches until they rounded the corner where the scene opened itself up for them. A mess of leaves and mud watered with blood stretched out for a few metres wide and long. Plants were crushed and their branches were broken, due to what seemed to be the weight of many creatures. Upon closer investigation, Britain and France found more pawprints facing haphazard directions; ones that slid as though being pulled.

"He's not here!" Britain called back to the others. Directly after, the sounds of leaves crunching and branches snapping were audible. The other three appeared and stared at everything before them. Liechtenstein gasped upon the sight of the blood droplets that were mixed with the beads of water over the leaves. She squeezed her eyes shut and found comfort close to Switzerland.

"With this struggle, it definitely seems that Ukraine was right and that he was alive," Britain said. "Hopefully, he still is so and we can rescue him."

"Thank goodness," Liechtenstein whispered.

* * *

Canada watched all the other groups leaving along with Japan and Italy. As it was on every day, the mansion was abruptly quieter and they were reminded of its emptiness. Although it could not really be considered to be true emptiness. Even here they could sense disturbances from far away, and their hairs raised as though the chill had reached them. Another door slam remained unheard; an isolated event in a world of its own.

"Alright, shall we?" Canada asked.

The pile of read books was high. They were now going to trek across the usually uneventful first floor and take the books back to the library to fetch new ones. Canada had their single weapon ready, and the children stood up and clustered together to have eyes peering out in four directions. Japan and Italy stood in the back while Canada led, although completely ready to spring backwards to attack an approaching mist or shadow if one was announced.

Finland had been sleeping less excessively since he had received his injury. As it healed further, his body did not need to spend more energy healing the smaller wound. He was awake at that moment, sitting up and looking over at the standing group. After a moment, he stood on his own and stepped towards the group.

Sweden hopped up, saying, "You shouldn't leave the circle."

"I want to walk around," Finland whispered. "I should keep my strength up."

"More people might attract more ghosts."

"Maybe," Finland replied. "But, what if it's not safe to stay here alone? They have the only weapon."

 _And five of them have charms_ , Finland thought, although he did not say this because he had listened to Sweden when he had talked about the amethyst pendant with the other Nordics. He knew now his feelings on the subject.

This convinced Sweden. He followed Finland to the group, ready to support him, although he seemed remarkably more stable than the day before, so it was not required. Each person carefully stepped over the salt line as to not soil it, and they slowly made their way down the hall that waited in silence for their arrival. Sunlight lit the path before them with a gentle touch, shining over the intricate patterns threaded into the carpet that were all so constantly forgotten. The art blossomed all around them like magnificent, tropical flowers, although no one paused to admire it. They walked forward because to spend time in captivation allowed more time for a predator to notice the new presences and creep slowly towards them.

They did not talk to each other, as though trying to keep a low profile while quickly passing through a dark alley. Nothing had ever appeared before on the way to the library or back; they had been so fortunate until Sweden barked, "The wall!"

Among their shadows pressed against the wall, Sweden had been adept enough to notice that an extra travelled just a little behind all of theirs. Canada raced to the back, dashing towards the silhouette that was a shade darker than the rest. He slashed the air, and the tip of the hedge clipper nicked a scratch into the wall.

The extra shadow disappeared, and the wall before him was now blank. He backed away to resume his position at the front. None of the others saw the bead of sweat trailing down his face, or how Canada gripped the handle firmly to try to will away the leftover quiver. He had not felt this way when tearing around the house after Latvia yesterday, but now he so suddenly realized the responsibility he had while leading this large group half-composed of children through dangerous territory. He grew nervous as he thought about how suddenly that shadow had appeared without any warning at all, and how close it had been to Italy.

 _Not only would it be a major problem if someone got possessed and started running around the mansion and putting everyone in danger again. I cannot imagine how furious Germany would be if I failed to protect them all. Especially Japan and Italy… that was too close. Italy didn't even see it there. If Sweden and Finland hadn't come along…_

Canada pushed the door open that exposed the expansive room to them all. He felt more comfortable here, now that there was so much light and so much room. It would be harder for anything to sneak up on them now. They moved inwards and soon passed by the printer and powered-off computer, where Kugelmugel grabbed another package of paper. They then carried on to the second floor, where those carrying books began placing them back to where they had been found before.

Sealand paused in front of the large window that overlooked the cemetery once again as he did every time they came here. The same fascination always reached him and every person that decided to look at it while passing by. No one could avoid taking a good look out it, and so one-by-one, they would always take their turns staring into the mostly uneventful yard. Occasionally the wind blew, and the long grass stretched languidly to the side.

At this moment, Sealand's eyes caught onto a trio of crows flapping tranquilly over the scene. Japan and Italy were nearby, sorting the books with Ladonia, Moldova, and Kugelmugel close to their sides. Canada stood fixed with Sweden overlooking their surroundings, like guard dogs with their ears up in attentive pinpoint positions. Finland was behind Sweden, facing a bookshelf and overlooking the titles for something in English that might interest him.

Sealand's eyes lowered from the crows. He froze and his lips parted to allow a quaking breath through them. Sweden snapped his head back upon hearing the sound. He noticed Sealand now trembling, and how the side of his face had become so pale. He hurried over, with the brisk action startling everyone.

Before Sweden needed to ask, Sealand was already whimpering, "It's the-the thing!"

Everyone crowded by the window. Indeed, far across the cemetery next to the stained white building that was the burial vault in the corner of the cemetery, stood a tall, skeletal shadow with its abnormally long arms and fingers hanging limply by the knees of its even longer legs. It stood before the door for all eyes to see.

Sealand squeaked, "It's looking at us!"

The others narrowed their eyes. The Shadow was facing the mansion in full profile, and even from the distance they could see how the head was slightly tilted upwards to line up its pricked-dot white eyes with the window where their faces were clustered. It stood there without making the slightest movement. It only continued to stare right back at them unblinkingly.

Their insides felt chilled.

"What's it doing?" Finland wondered aloud. "It's just… standing there."

It was especially strange for him, for he and Sweden along with Denmark had remembered it in full action, in a hot pursuit after them. It was abnormally immobile now. Finland was observing the generic details of it, but then he drifted up its unnerving, vantablack-shaded body to its face. His eyes met the white orbs even at this distance.

He gasped as his brain was overtaken and his consciousness was momentarily ripped from this world. Red and purple light swept around him, and the impossibly tall trees sprouted high in all directions from the ground. Without deciding anything, he began to run. To where, he did not know at first. He could feel only the exhaustion in his legs, and intense cramps stitching his sides.

A very familiar growling reached his ears. His head turned over his shoulder to see a multitude of black, spiky-haired beasts dodging around trees behind him and flanking his sides. Their eyes and long fangs gleamed, and the saliva that flew from their mouths spun through the air as shining droplets. He heard the thunder of the dozens of feet pounding the ground, drowning out his own panting.

Ever since the day the Shadow had tried showing him these things, he had thought he had been shown the underworld. Now he understood that it was Hell, but it was here.

The snarls overwhelmed him. Among the small crowd of people, he dropped suddenly. As they all released cries of surprise that he could not hear, his mind whispered to him the realization.

 _The wolves._

Sweden snatched him before he hit the floor. It was the moment when his arms had hooked under Finland's armpits that the door to the room slammed shut with a heavy bam. Canada whirled around, gaze boring to scan the floor below them for any signs of movement. He saw nothing for now. He then said firmly, "Children, get your books. Everyone else- on guard. Let's get out of here as soon as possible."

The Shadow still stared far across the field up at them, even after they pulled themselves away from the glass to do as they had been commanded. Finland's eyes flickered open, and soon after he was balancing himself back on his feet. He felt much more dizzier than before, as though he truly had just exhausted all his energy in running for his life. He swayed from side-to-side, feverishly thinking only about how much he just wanted to return to the front and cozy up under the blankets to sleep for a very long time. His eyelids started to droop immediately after this thought had arisen.

The clock in the room burst to life. Everyone jumped with gasps as the powerfully loud sound of the clock striking the hour cracked the silent atmosphere

 _Bong!... Bong!... Bong!_

It just kept going without an end in sight, or rather, it seemed to be proclaiming a time that was not now. Canada lowered his stance, searching frantically around them, and waiting for someone to call out an alarm for him. He snapped his head to the right, towards the narrow spiral staircase that rose to the second floor. He had looked just in time to see the cover of a book peek out inquisitively at them before it dropped from the second highest shelf of the bookcase. It hit the carpet with a heavy, dead smack. Canada stared forward, but he held his ground.

When the clock quieted, he crept forward towards the book. He trapped it under his foot, then walked backwards while dragging it with him. Still, nothing manifested before him. Once among the others, he bent down with his eyes still forward to collect the book.

His eyes flashed down to his hands. The title _Lord of the Flies_ popped out at him in red text over the image of a sketched forest with boys with spears perceivable in the bottom. He noted the age of the novel; besides the original cover, the worn yellow pages indicated that it had likely been added to this library a long time ago.

He passed the novel back into Japan's hands, saying, "I'm going to take a look at this later. Everyone else, please just get what you want so we can leave."

They scrambled to it, almost randomly taking down whatever they could get their hands on, barely throwing glances at the titles. They amassed stacks of books in their arms. After Canada hesitated for a moment, they hurried past the spot where the book had fallen. They trotted down the stairs then across the first floor. Canada peeked at the clock's face, where the hands nearly lined up at the twelve.

 _But that's not right…_ Canada threw open the door and automatically sliced the air in front of him in case something had been standing there, waiting. _Something messed with the clock._

They slowed down once out of the library. The lookout system was reestablished, although they returned to the salt circle without any issues. They dropped their books by the table and almost all of them instantly had plopped over the blankets and pillows in relief. Canada however, took the book from Japan and settled in the corner with it. The children did not touch the books just yet, instead opting to wait until their shivering subsided while holding the pillows in their laps. That is, all but Moldova. He was still, looking nothing but confused at the reactions around him.

Finland stumbled towards the blankets beside the mattress. He tucked himself in while Sweden sat beside him with his face alternating between looking down the left and right halls, and up the stairs, turning like a security camera. He was the only one in the group that was still riled up and quite agitated.

Canada opened the book and let the pages fall over each other. In but a moment a flicker of green caught his attention. He backtracked to the page, and found a sticky tab there. He looked over the page it was attached to, now finding graphite lines where a pencil had underlined passages of text.

 _They accepted the pleasures of morning, the bright sun, the whelming sea and sweet air, as a time when play was good and life so full that hope was not necessary and therefore forgotten._

Canada held the ends of the book tighter as his eyes sharpened.

 _What does this mean?_ he thought.

He flipped on further.

 _Ralph was annoyed and, for the moment, defeated. He felt himself facing something ungraspable. The eyes that looked so intently at him were without humor._

 _"But there isn't a beast!"_

 _Something he had not known was there rose in him and compelled him to make the point, loudly and again._

 _"But I tell you there isn't a beast!"_

 _The assembly was silent._

He found many more pages.

 _Things are breaking up. I don't understand why. We began well; we were happy. And then - ...Then people started getting frightened._

Pages later:

 _"I know there isn't no beast—not with claws and all that, I mean—but I know there isn't no fear, either."_

Then:

 _"The world, that understandable and lawful world, was slipping away."_

Canada felt anxiety rising within him.

 _Now out of the terror rose another desire, thick, urgent, blind._

 _"Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!"_

His hands trembled.

 _The blue-white scar was constant, the noise unendurable. Simon was crying out something about a dead man on a hill._

 _"Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood! Do him in!"_

 _The sticks fell and the mouth of the new circle crunched and screamed. The beast was on its knees in the center, its arms folded over its face. It was crying out against the abominable noise something about a body on the hill. The beast struggled forward, broke the ring and fell over the steep edge of the rock to the sand by the water. At once the crowd surged after it, poured down the rock, leapt on to the beast, screamed, struck, bit, tore. There were no words, and no movements but the tearing of teeth and claws._

Unbeknownst to Canada, this had been the scene that Latvia had discussed with Lithuania just the day before. He had read this book however, and he knew the scene was about the boys murdering one of their own by accident, when they mistook him for the imagined beast they had all come to fear.

 _No_ , Canada thought. _No…_

 _The great wave of the tide moved further along the island and the water lifted. Softly, surrounded by a fringe of inquisitive bright creatures, itself a silver shape beneath the steadfast constellations, Simon's dead body moved out towards the open sea._

The meaning was painfully clear to Canada.

 _Whoever underlined the text was describing Russia_ , he thought. _Before what happened, happened… they knew all along that we would turn savage. This… This is the real purpose of the game! Everything is based on the book! The breakdown of rules and civilization. Fear of the supernatural beasts- although what we should truly fear is what we all are becoming._

 _This is not a scavenger hunt. This is no game of hide-and-seek. Everything that is happening here is nothing but a game of madness._

The clock in the room just outside of the salt circle went wild. Canada gasped and dropped the book. It tumbled over his lap to softly lay on the blanket. Canada stared up with the others at the booming clock that showed a time of 3:20. Until that point, none of them had noticed that this clock had also been changed.

"What did this?" Italy cried out.

Finland had waken up at the excitement. He joined the others in staring around at each other. Japan stood up and walked towards the clock, paused, then looked back at them with a frown.

"What time is it right now?" he asked.

They were clueless.

"Eight or nine-ish?" Italy cocked his head.

Japan went to work on turning the hands to eight-thirty.

"It might be broken," Canada spoke up from behind Japan. "It was going off at a random time."

Japan did not reply, and instead just backed away from the clock to sit back down. They all stared at the grandfather clock as though expecting it to erupt into a clamor again, but it stayed silent this time and ticked placidly. Canada picked up the book again and examined it closely.

After a while, he stood and placed it on the table. He planned on sharing the news with the others once they came back, and he would show them the quotes. His hopes were high that if they realized the purpose of the game, then they would consciously try to keep themselves sane as to not play along with this person's plans. His hand drifted away from the book, and for a moment, his eyes grazed over the collection of papers that was the logbook.

Canada froze, then stepped up in front of the papers to get a better look. His eyes had not deceived him, however. A name had been scratched out by hard lines from the pencil now dropped onto the floor. Canada made out the name _Hungary_.

His eyes widened before frantically going down this page. _Estonia_ was scratched away, then _Latvia_.

On another page, _Belarus_ had two clean lines cutting through it. Then however, right underneath the name, a huge bar of graphite heavily covered _Russia_ , and it extended beyond the name to obliterate the times. At the very end, in the free slots that were left blank, someone had written in all caps and in bold _**HAHAHAHA!**_

Canada grabbed another pencil, flipped it, and furiously attempted to erase it. He pressed hard into the table until it rocked, and by now others were up and siding him to see what was happening. They saw what he was trying to destroy. They could tell, just like Canada, that this could not be erased. The pencil had been pushed deep into the paper to write this, so it had been imprinted. Canada instead flipped the pencil to scratch intensely at the paper until it ripped a gap into the writing. He continued tearing the hole bigger until the mockery could no longer be seen.

 _Who did this?_ his mind roared.

Even after he had destroyed it, a deep anger trembled inside him. The pencil snapped in Canada's grip. He unclenched his hand and let the two halves land on the table, dropping small chips of graphite and paint over the tablecloth. Japan and Italy looked in awed shock at the hard lines etched into Canada's face, morphing his normally placid face into one of uncontrolled fury.


	11. Hearts and Black Corpses

_The desire to squeeze and hurt was over-mastering._

* * *

They had waited for the others to return with great anxiety. When the groups came in one-by-one, Canada tapped his foot impatiently until the last person had scampered in. He then had to wait for each group to give their reports, so his impatience only increased until he was scratching a relentless itch that consumed both of his forearms.

Germany's group was the first to relay their findings. Germany said to them, "As you can see, we did not find anybody. However, there was a skeleton at the end of the tunnel with the Orthodox cross carved into its forehead. I destroyed the mark, although nothing visible happened."

"That makes it the second one," Britain mused. "So it is likely that someone is using them to heighten their supernatural power. It is good to track them down in that case, and destroy them. You were right to do what you did."

"But the cross was upright," Germany frowned. "If someone is using them for dark purposes, should the crosses not be upside down?"

"Not necessarily. The power they are tapping might not be dark, but they can use it for diabolical purposes," Britain replied.

"Not even black magic…" America sighed.

Japan asked, "But who does the skeleton belong to?"

"I wonder if someone took it from one of the graves in the cemetery," Germany murmured while turning to Britain. "Just to use it as an item of power."

"Possible," was the reply. "We could probably see if any soil has been disturbed over a grave. It would be easy to spot; the grass would be destroyed."

China said, "But that still doesn't explain why there are tunnels dug in random places in the forest!"

"My guess is that their existence is purely for the sake of this game," Germany replied. "And that someone dug them a long time ago in preparation."

Romania asked, "But they couldn't have known that I was going to buy this house!"

"Are you sure?" Germany glared. "Did anyone talk to you about it? Encourage you to buy it?"

"No," he said. "I just heard about its reputation and thought, why not? I thought it would be like any other standard haunted house- full of harmless spooks."

Germany _hmm_ ed, but there was nothing left for him to pursue for now. He allowed France to report his group's news.

"We could not find Russia," he said. "But there was one spot in particular where it looked like there was a fight or at least a struggle. The evidence points to that he was alive when taken. We tried following the trail, but we soon lost it."

Ukraine relaxed slightly and a small, hopeful smile tinged her face. Lithuania's face displayed relief, although the worry and mourning continued to paint the surface of his eyes with a wet gleam when no one had any news as to what had become of Latvia. As the topic was being discussed, Germany growled, "If he took a run for it…"

"Unlikely," Britain soothed him. "His screams were heard behind the mansion. Something must have gotten him."

Lithuania exclaimed in Latvia's defense, "He would never leave and let Estonia die!"

"You think he cares?" Germany uttered. "He's only looking out for himself. He had us persecute Russia for no reason so that he would get off the hook."

Canada blurted out, "We still don't know his reason!"

"It doesn't matter what the reason was."

"But it does!" Canada's eyes widened. "What if the culprit threatened to hurt somebody else other than him if he didn't blame Russia? Like if the person said that they would kill Lithuania, or Ukraine… it's possible. We were all running around at that time, open for sudden attack."

"He still refused to say it even when asked again when we were all back downstairs," Germany pressed.

"Well," Canada frowned. "If this person is using magic, then even a reveal would not stop them from disappearing to where the missing people are being held and killing them. You see, we- and that includes Latvia, have no idea what this person's limitations are. Maybe they are not using magic at all, but how could Latvia take the risk of not believing a bluff?"

"It is not Latvia's choice to choose between Russia or Lithuania," Germany muttered. "We can protect everyone if we work together, but Latvia put the blame on one of us. Someone would have ended up getting hurt regardless, although his choice only made him a traitor in the end."

"Russia getting hurt was not his fault!" Canada cried. "You chased him! You shot him! You ran away when the wolves came! Latvia did not tell you to do any of that!"

Canada's soft voice had irked him this morning, but now this objecting, furious one angered Germany to a greater degree. He knew it was in direct opposition to him, and he did not appreciate it in the slightest.

 _How dare you question my judgement and leadership?_ he thought. _I am in charge! None of you can do anything right without me! I am trying to keep us together, but you're putting people against me!_

Canada cut off his next reply, and an inferno of rage lapped hotly at Germany's insides as he barely held all the fury within him.

"What would you do in his position, if someone told you to simply accuse someone else then say no more, because if you don't, Prussia will die? Don't you lie, Germany. You know what you would do. But you'd try to be noble. You'd try and tell them to talk to Russia, and then people would figure out that you had lied for a reason and that Russia was innocent. But no. You played right into the culprit's hands, and you blindly attacked Russia."

Canada slid his hand over the cover of the book, continuing with, "What if that was exactly the reason why he said nothing? Perhaps, they told Latvia that if he said anything about their identity or that he was threatened, that they would kill all of the taken people! That must be the reason- don't you see? It's the same thing that was threatened in the original note!"

Many in the room perked at this new idea, but some remained serious-faced and blatantly unconvinced.

"Like you said, we don't know," Britain said. "Latvia might not have been threatened with that. He might still have merely made a selfish, traitorous choice."

Canada now grasped the book and held it out in front of everyone.

"Listen to this!" he exclaimed. "When we went into the library today, supernatural occurrences began to happen. This book was put away, but then something knocked it off the shelf for us so that we would take it back. This is _Lord of the Flies_ , and someone has gone through it, put in bookmarks, and underlined specific passages of text. Have any of you read this book? It is about a bunch of boys who get stranded on a tropical island, and over time, they turn savage. They hurt one another, they kill a few of their own, and try to kill another in a hunt in the end. Whoever read this book was inspired by it. They are trying to get us to follow the same path of insanity. All of you must see that the plan is to make us turn on each other and lose our humanity!

"Britain- you are losing your emotions not because you choose to. This book should be enough proof to show that you are being manipulated. Germany- you are lashing out at people and using violence now. You are like the character Jack, and you have your hunters who support you. You have to stop this. You cannot let the creator of this game win! They're laughing on the inside, you know. They crossed out the names of the missing people, and they expressed humor at what happened with Russia, because everything they planned had fallen into place perfectly. Please. It's time to get it back together. We're hurting each other, and that is not okay. Don't say that there are exceptions. Cruelty is not necessary, but it is what you resort to as you lose your sanity."

He watched their reactions carefully after he had finished speaking. Now not so many appeared unconvinced anymore. They seemed to be in a state of shock, as though they had just comprehended the ungraspable concept of the human size in comparison to the universe. They were petrified with their eyes locked upon the cover of the book, with echoes of Canada's words ringing in their minds, different lines hitting home for each one of them.

Canada observed the effect of his rant with satisfaction.

 _We found out the purpose of this game. Now they'll fight against this person's goals! We'll win now!_

"Interesting," Germany commented.

That was all he said about it. Canada stared at him, expecting more, but Germany only gazed back at him with a steady glare. Canada's lip pulled out to the side, before he breathed out sharply through his nose and said, "Well, do you now have ideas of how you're going to change your strategy?"

"I can control myself," Germany muttered. "I'll keep this information in mind and keep myself calm and logical. Anything else, Canada?"

"If we find Latvia alive," he said. "Promise that you will not use violence against him."

"I cannot promise that for anyone. If someone betrays the group, then we do what we have to do."

"No," Canada stated. "You will not hurt him."

"It might be necessary," Germany sighed. "To get him to talk..."

"You didn't need to torture Russia to get him to reveal anything!" Canada cried. "Don't you realize that the more you scare people, the tighter-lipped they become? Let me take full responsibility for the interrogations from now on then, if you really can't control yourself. Can you at least give me a chance to implement my strategy before yours? Is that so much to ask for?"

Canada held Germany's gaze; the intensity of the exchange highlighted the importance of this to the northern nation. A muscle twitched in Germany's cheek, but there was no immediate denial of the request.

"Well, I suppose it would be alright," Germany relented after a brief pause, although the admission was tinted with reluctance.

"Thank you," Canada dropped his head and sighed. "You will not be disappointed."

Germany felt that being polite would make him appear understanding to the others. He did not wish to be seen as the savage Canada was describing him to be. If he could, he wanted to give the others doubt, so that they would question if Canada's description truly matched the person who was _really_ in charge.

Germany also felt the need to reaffirm his authority. He pointed at Japan and Italy.

"Start preparing lunch, and give breakfast to my group now."

They hesitated for a moment, but not one that had been long enough to receive a response from Germany. It was noted, although Germany did question its existence because of the transiency of it. Japan and Italy obediently left the room and wandered into the kitchen. Germany turned away a second before the shriek caused him to leap to his feet. He pelted towards the kitchen, and when he leapt into the doorway, a shape hurled itself across the room and crashed into the solid wall that he was.

He snatched Italy by the scruff of his furry costume, and he dashed back towards the circle without waiting for an explanation. He cast the fox onto a pile of blankets and pillows, then whirled on his heels in time to see Japan scurrying into the circle as well.

"What is it?" Germany demanded.

"There's- there's something on the floor!" Italy wailed.

Germany collected the hedge clipper blades, bearing one to each hand as pseudo double swords. He trotted back to the kitchen with them raised at the ready. When he arrived in the doorway once again however, he was captivated by the darker stains that appeared to be soaked into the hardwood. In the near center of the room, what appeared to be a poor piece of watercolour artwork showed Germany a grotesquely, disproportionate face. It had one wavy eye socket that was larger than the other, and an open mouth with a jaw disconnected on one side.

He checked the rest of the floor, and noticed other stains where there had been none the day before. They seemed to be incomplete versions of the main artwork that dominated the kitchen floor; broken half-faces that gave an unnerving impression that they were watching him.

 _Romania mentioned these in his description about the mansion's history. I suppose we have reached this level of horror now._

He called back to the others, "There's nothing to be afraid of. These stains won't hurt you. Ignore them and get back in here!"

He waited until he heard two pairs of footsteps reluctantly making their way back to him. As he passed by Italy on the way out, he heard the low sound of whimpering. His eyes flashed over, but Italy was already out of his line of view, and he did not bother turning his head to look after him. Germany returned to his spot near Britain, America, and France. He looked around for Canada, but he was no longer in his usual spot. Germany soon tracked him down with his eyes to another area across the room.

Canada was sitting with China, Spain, Portugal, and Romano around him. Germany's eyes narrowed, and as he stared, he heard someone slide near him. Warm breath touched his ear accompanied by a whisper of, " _Canada's starting a mutiny against you_."

Germany did not reply, but he thought to himself, _Well, he's certainly making it obvious._

Vietnam and Seychelles were sliding closer, trying to catch onto what was being discussed. Switzerland caught sight of the book Canada was flipping through, turning, and showing the others. He took Liechtenstein and walked across the room to settle on the outskirts of the circle.

The voice beside Germany then asked, " _What are you going to do about it?_ "

Germany stood up and strode powerfully over to the large group. He stopped purposefully abruptly behind some of the members of Canada's circle, who gasped and turned back to look up at Germany nervously.

"What are you doing?" Germany uttered.

Canada coolly looked up at him and replied, "I'm showing them the underlined passages and explaining how they are connected to us."

"For what purpose?"

"Purpose?" Canada echoed. "To show them the mistakes that we have done of course. So we can prevent future ones."

Germany bent over so that his hardened face came closer.

"Do you have a problem, Canada?" he asked. "Because if you do, I would be more than happy to discuss it with you. I'm sure we can come up with some solutions."

"Well, if you stick to what you said a few minutes ago, then no. I do not have any problems."

A new voice called out, "What's going on here?"

Denmark stopped beside Germany, tapping his fingers over his crossed arms. Norway and Iceland followed him, and then like a silent shark, Sweden drifted to Germany's other side. Those of the group on the floor felt an uncomfortable pressure weighing down on them from the now many stares boring down on them from above. The ones who had moved over here broke away to return to their sleeping areas. Canada however, ignored the foreboding presences, and returned an equally powerful stare that went deep into Germany's eyes.

Britain and France stood up, out of sight to Canada behind the Nordics. America became curious, and so he stumbled out of his blankets and headed over.

Germany said lowly, "Are you questioning my leadership?"

Canada glared back.

"If you want me to be honest, Germany," Canada murmured. "Then-"

A scream broke out, " _You sick shit!_ "

Germany snapped his head back. Canada blinked, but his eyes could not see what was was occurring. Germany turned and stomped away, and Canada jumped to his feet and squeezed past Denmark and Sweden to follow him.

A ferocious light sparked in America's eyes as his face wrinkled up in absolute, unrestricted rage. He was bent over with a flexed leg forward and to the side of the shocked, tiny form cringing on the floor below him. America shot down an arm, but before he could grasp onto anything, Germany bowled into him, knocking him to the floor.

"What do you think you're doing?" he bellowed.

Out of his view, Japan and Italy popped their heads out of the kitchen.

America shot up into a sitting position.

"That messed-up fuck drew Russia!" he yelled. "Look! Look at what he did!"

Germany whirled around. Kugelmugel pressed back into the ground, with the pencil and paper clutched to his chest.

"Show me," he hissed.

Kugelmugel's eyes were circles. He quivered under the lowering, contorting face that was a ghost of the person he used to know. The person that came over so often to Austria's house was gone- and for that he was terrified. He could not possibly think of the warm colours of anger. He did not imagine how fury would look like painted. The beloved subject of art completely escaped his mind, and now the small micronation could only tremble and stare up in fearful expectation.

Kugelmugel had not realized that Germany had given him a command. He had not heard it. Germany's huge hand clamped onto his small wrist. He yipped and curled around it.

German boomed, " _Die Zeichnung! Gib mir sie!_ "

Kugelmugel was silent instantly. He rolled onto his back, and with a quaking grip, he lifted the paper up to Germany. Kugelmugel still held his arm up even after the paper had been snatched from him, with his hand kept slightly opened as though it had never left his grasp.

Germany's eyes sharpened upon the detailed, nearly completed pencil sketch. An entire scene was shown as though taken as a black and white picture. Huge, moss-coated rocks lifted Russia's mangled body. Every bit of gore was highlighted; the broken bones that pierced out through his skin and clothes were outlined darkly, clear thick shades to show the heavy amount of blood splatter, and his limbs were shown to be in the same revolting positions as they had been in real life. A pair of jaws attached to a wrinkle-faced monster with remorseless eyes stabbed a mouth full of small, white knives into the black-clothed arm of Russia. A spray of droplets was caught suspended in the air, almost but never reaching another beast that was drawn snarling in the picture.

"Do you like this?" Germany hollered.

Kugelmugel stared at him in shock, and once again without understanding.

" _Magst du_ -"

He did not need to finish the question, because Kugelmugel finally caught on. Tears burst in the corners of his eyes, overflowing then spilling down his face. Kugelmugel slowly shook his head side-to-side.

" _Nein_ ," he whispered. " _Ich_ … I-I liked Russia. He was so interesting…"

Kugelmugel dragged himself backwards from Germany, forgetting about the picture. He sat up and drew his legs close so that he could wrap his arms around them while lowering his face. His forehead touched against his knees as he let his tears rain downwards. A whimper choked him now as he said, "Why d-did you do this to him? He was in-innocent, but then you k-killed him!"

"It is not our fault!" Germany shouted. "It was Latvia's and the culprit's!"

Kugelmugel started to sob quietly. By this time Austria had hopped over to the side of the micronation. Kugelmugel gasped in surprise when Austria, of all people- wrapped his arms around him and pulled him protectively close. The beads of the onyx bracelet could be felt pressing into his skin, but the warmth of the arms were more meaningful, making it possible for Kugelmugel to ignore the rest.

He was not used to being shown any kind of affection, but he readily accepted this comfort wholeheartedly. He pressed his head against Austria's chest, feeling the silk of the cravat that had such a soothing touch. The tears did not stop, but he quieted considerably.

Austria said, "Don't take it out on Kugelmugel. He has no part of this!"

"Why did he draw that picture?" Germany growled. "He should know that it is a sensitive topic, and that it should not be recreated!"

It was Kugelmugel who replied with a sniff, "I know how tragic it is… I know... I feel so bad for what happened, and I don't want to forget these feelings. It's just… everyone is trying to forget, but I don't want to. I want to respect all the victims… even if everyone else around me turns cold in the abyss of insanity, I won't fall. I know the true path to staying sane is to embrace the twisted, beautiful art that is tragedy and weave some threads of my heart into it, and a little bit of the darkness into myself. I'll stay myself, and with these pictures, the experiences and lessons I will have learned here in this house will never be lost."

Germany stared in awe at Kugelmugel for a few seconds. He then nodded slightly, and backed away from the two. The drawing was released from his hanging hand, and it rode the air until it landed face-down by Kugelmugel's small, socked feet. He did not seem so interested in it at the moment, and instead Kugelmugel desperately wanted to continue being held.

Austria knew this when he felt Kugelmugel snuggling into him, and he felt a pull at his heart that urged him to press his arms into the smooth, gleaming black feathers of his costume and cuddle him. Austria realized that the tender feeling that was mixed with sorrow must have been how Italy had felt when he had comforted him after Hungary's loss. He felt an intense desire to ease away every ounce of suffering in the other, and as he observed this goal beginning to succeed, he felt as though he had an amazing ability. He wondered then, why he had never tried this to other people before, if it was so effective. Now, he only wanted to pass this gift of healing to others, like Italy had to him.

Germany left the room to eliminate some of the feeling of awkwardness and disarray. He hopped into the kitchen with the excuse of checking on Japan and Italy. These two had in truth, stopped working completely to see how every conflict would turn out, and they had only just returned to their stations and started frantically working when Germany walked in.

Germany took a quick glance at the stained floor below their feet.

"No problems?" he asked.

Italy stammered, "Er- n-no, Germany…"

Germany paused while his eyebrows furrowed.

 _Why did he stutter?_ he thought.

"Are you sure?" he pressed.

"Yes," Japan replied. "Everything is completely fine."

Germany did not leave immediately like Japan had believed he would. He and Italy began to feel nervous, wondering if Germany had found out about the conversation they had had with Canada that morning. He walked up closer to them, and they froze, although he passed by and came up to a counter.

"Why are two knives missing?" Germany asked. He saw that the other two were not currently using one.

"Oh," Japan said. "Besides the first one that was taken, Latvia took one from when he became possessed. I had completely forgotten about it."

"He didn't have it on him when we found him," Germany said.

Japan replied, "Then he must have dropped it somewhere."

Germany nodded, then detached himself from the counter. He backed away, turned, then exited the room. He naturally, reported this news to Britain, France, and America. Canada was still avoiding them, which only put another frown upon Germany's face.

 _Childish_ , he scorned him. _To just avoid problems and hope that they will disappear on their own. Separation does nothing. I'm willing to talk to you, but you'd rather just talk behind my back and turn people against me. Absolutely childish. It is like school drama. With all the big speeches you throw out, I expected that you would want to talk about your misgivings like an adult. Or do you lack the bravery, Canada? Do you just put on the noble act when others are watching?_

Soon, Japan and Italy were passing out the filled plates and bowls to everyone. Germany bit his fork on every mouthful, sliding it out swiftly and fiercely, scraping his teeth with every withdrawal. The taste was unimportant to him, and he had hardly given it his attention, so the result was that he could barely recall what it had been that he had put into himself. All of his thoughts were focused too strongly on judging and scorning all the others around him who had not proven themselves loyal to him.

 _Why do you protest all the time, Switzerland? What have you done? Nothing. You haven't helped anyone at all. You only complain all the time. You did nothing to save Hungary, just like Liechtenstein and Austria._

His sharp eyes bored on to another group.

 _Vietnam and Seychelles. You two hardly have your voices heard, and whenever I hear them, they are just complaints as well. You don't do anything either. Nothing to contribute, and no extra effort is being given to the search at all. I bet you don't care much about the missing people, and that's why. You just do enough to look like you are participating. But I caught onto what you are doing. It won't continue to slide._

The eyes targeted another group.

 _Ukraine… you're weak. The only thing you've done is allowed yourself to collapse into depression. You don't even use your losses to strengthen yourself like I do. All the time you cry about Belarus and "poor, poor Russia". What have you done to help them? Lithuania at least isn't sitting and wailing about Latvia and Estonia. He went out today without a complaint, and he gave his all out there. Poland doesn't do much, although not much can be expected from him- but at least he seems to be doing all he can._

He took his plate and utensils to drop into the sink in the kitchen. They would be taken care of later, and he would not have to worry about such menial things. This could be left to the group indoors. If they were to stay inside safe all day, then he felt that at least they could make themselves useful by taking care of the dishes.

Someone came to his side and more dishes fell into the sink. His frigid eyes flashed to his side to glimpse two black tipped ears pricked upright. When Italy turned, Germany was able to gaze over his simple, peaceful expression. His posture was so relaxed, with his arms dangling limply and harmlessly at his sides. The costume he was clad in only made him seem all the more wonderfully gentle and innocent.

Germany could not name a time where he had seen anger overwhelm this person.

 _He doesn't need to change_ , he decided. _I know that he is good, and that he cares_.

Germany settled against the counter, prepared to keep watch over the kitchen in order to prevent theft of the supplies or knives. He watched the flossy tail swaying limply as Italy departed.

Back in the main room, Italy spotted Iceland and Norway heading up the stairs to go to the bathroom. He trotted over to the logbook to quickly scratch the false time of the clock onto the paper before he pursued the others. He contently hummed to himself as he paced up the stairs one-by-one. They had gotten slightly ahead, but he always caught sight of them ascending the next staircase every time he neared the top of the one he was on. He carried on undisturbed, padding upwards silently so that the other two were completely unaware of his presence.

On the fourth floor, Iceland popped into the bathroom first while Norway found a wall and plopped himself against it. Italy stepped onto the fourth floor, and his eyes quickly locked onto the deep white scar that slashed right down the eyeball that was visible from the side. Italy's lips tightened together and he turned away uncomfortably.

He checked down the other hall whose pressured atmosphere from the concentrated silence was leaking down towards them. Something that his eyes were hardly not ready to believe made Italy's heart pause for a moment. Norway only continued to stare forward at the wall opposite to him, completely disconnected from this world. He did not see how Italy was now drifting towards the end of the hall step-by-step, feet gliding slowly over the decorative carpet. He would have been confused and frightened by the slightly swaying walk of Italy that likened that of a deranged person if he had seen it. It was although true, that Italy was currently questioning his sanity as he kept his eyes fixed on the image he saw at the far end of the wall reflected back at him in the hanging mirror.

The darkness made it difficult to discern, but the reddish irises in the dark face of the figure staring back at him filled him with an excitement.

"Prussia?" he asked. "Is that you?"

His pace quickened. He hurried towards the mirror, with a smile broadening on his face.

"Prussia! You're okay!" Italy gasped.

He slowed suddenly as he burst into a profound cold spot. He finally stopped his blind, merry skip forward, and he cast a nervous glance around himself before back at the mirror. He was now a few metres away from it, but now he noticed that the darkness of the face in the mirror did not disappear even as he got closer. Red eyes continue to glare at him in an unblinking gaze, and Italy found himself completely unable to break eye contact with it.

He watched a darker red swirling around the irises, like the bubbles trapped in a lava lamp. He watched the crimson flowing ever so slowly around and around the irises. He stood in captivation as the face grew closer until its black inkiness fazed through the mirror. The rest of the midnight-black body crawled out, sliding to the floor but then correcting itself in midair so that it now hovered before him.

A small figure well below his stature composed of fidgeting black mist kept its red-eyed gaze locked with Italy's. The crimson swirled, rising like moons over each of the constricted pupils, then crashing down unexpectedly. Italy could not tear his eyes away, even after a voice deep in his mind whispered, _That's not Prussia_.

He could not break from his petrification even when the pixelating mass neared him. An agonizing feeling overtook him as he felt as though his blood was turning to ice. The eyes before him seemed to grow larger and larger. The dark drops never stopped spinning in the creature's eyes, and very soon, his mind became possessed by this exact colour of crimson.

The door far down the other hall opened. Iceland stepped out into the hall, eyes finding the sidetracked Norway.

"You getting daydreams now?" Iceland asked, to which Norway blinked, then noticed him finally. "Because if you're still getting those dreams, you should tell-"

A flash caught his attention. He turned his head slightly and his eyes stretched wide.

" _No!_ " he screeched.

Norway had not seen it coming when his blind eye had been facing that direction. He gasped when Iceland bowled into him and threw him against the wall. The ephemeral moment did not allow him anytime to escape it. The massive steak knife plunged into his side, twisting, and then yanking out to allow a cascade of blood to splatter the ground drop-by-drop. Iceland fell to the ground, laying still as an eruption of hot blood pumped from him over the carpet.

Norway shrieked and collected Iceland into his arms.

"No, no, no, no," he moaned. "Ice… no…"

His hands pressed over the wound. Blood flooded over them, painting them a new colour with such a heat made it feel as though his skin was being scorched. Tears leapt from his eyes and a sob choked him. For a few seconds he was so caught up in the unexpected happenings that he had failed to notice the knife-wielder falling towards him. His eyes happened to flicker upwards, and a gasp erupted from him when a bolt of red-dripping silver shot towards his throat.

He twisted to the side and the knife scraped a long cut across the side of his neck. The arm reared back to strike again, but Norway had already sprang backwards. Iceland shifted as a figure leapt over him and jabbed for Norway's gut. Norway's teeth clenched he snatched onto the knife-wielding arm and hurled it to the side. He took full advantage of the brief chance that he had to lunge forward and deliver an unrestrained, potent punch to the assailant's stomach.

The impact caused him to become off-balanced, and so he took a simple step backwards. However, no expression of pain flashed upon the other's face, and instead there was merely a hint of a smile on those lips. Norway screeched and swept out his leg, hooking it behind the other's while shoving the attacker on the chest. The knife-wielder fell backwards onto Iceland, although Norway was prompt in snatching the person and hurling him at the wall. The assailant's skull made a neat crack sound as it whipped backwards and struck the wallpaper.

Norway threw himself to Iceland's side. The other peered up at him with a thin groan escaping his lips.

"I've got you!" he cried. He could hear the assailant already gathering himself. He scooped Iceland into his arms and took off running. Norway leaned back as he tried balancing himself with the extra weight of Iceland offsetting him. His arms squeezed tight around his body, soaking themselves with the steady flow of blood. When he felt something meaty scraping the side of an arm, Norway shifted it so that it lay and pressed directly into pouring wound.

Blood washed down Norway's front and made the front of his pants grow heavy. Iceland began to breathe shallowly as they stumbled awkwardly down the first set of stairs. Norway very nearly tumbled, which would have resulted in them both crashing down. A nimble spin on his heels restored his balance, although as he turned he saw a figure pouncing over the first few stairs with the knife turned to plunge downwards.

Norway gasped and leapt forward with a scream. He hit the ground of the third floor with a heavy impact that shocked his knees. He gasped and tottered forward, his legs shaking as they tried desperately not to buckle. He heard rapid, thumping footsteps, and without checking first, he spun around with a roundhouse kick to nail the assailant in the side. The attacker stumbled to the side, and Norway took this time to emit the loudest scream he could produce, " _Help! Somebody help!_ "

Norway had kicked the assailant once more before he heard Iceland whisper to him, "Stop the bleeding… Go down the hall behind us… there's a bedroom."

Norway dove away from the slashing knife and pelted down the hall. He heard a high laugh behind him coupled with the pounding footsteps that were fast approaching.

"There," Iceland whispered. Norway threw himself to the side, and the tip of the knife sank into his back and tapped against his scapula. He yapped as he pulled himself away. He sailed into the room, dropped Iceland's legs, and used the other hand to slam the door shut and lock it before a heavy bam smacked violently against the wood.

"I have you Ice," Norway murmured. He carried his brother to the bed and set him down on it. He snatched at the thick blanket that had never been taken. He clumped it together and pressed it down over the wound. Iceland tried to relax, although the sound of wood splintering did not help ease his stress.

"You'll be okay," Norway whispered. "It only got your obliques I think… not your organs."

The knife stabbed through the door as a loud bang accompanied it. Norway twitched, but he did not look away from Iceland as he held the cloth down.

"Help will come," Norway continued. Iceland nodded slightly.

The knife in the door retracted, then it did not return. They heard the sound the footsteps racing away in an excited frenzy, soon accompanied by a loud exclamation of someone new coming into the area. His screams had been heard, but now Norway could do nothing to aid them as he focused on stopping Iceland's bleeding. He stayed where he was, sitting on his feet, still crying although he was giving Iceland a reassuring smile.

He heard a shuffle out in the hall. He yelled out to them, "We're in here!"

He did not expect them to come right away, but at least he could let them know where they were. Once they were finished dealing with… _him_.

Norway thought, _He tried to kill us, but I got us away. Does that mean that he's the culprit?_

The hall outside quieted. Norway thought that now perhaps, someone would come to help him and Iceland. However, instead of anyone arriving, a massive eruption of noise cracked the silence. Screams, yells, and all kinds of banging and pounding from unseen actions. He gasped and looked at the door, as though he could see what was happening out there through it.

"Norway…" Iceland whispered with his eyes closed. "What's happening?"

He replied, "I have no idea."

* * *

Germany burst to the top of the stairs with a mass of people behind him. He had been late to arrive for he had been keeping guard in the kitchen when he had heard the screams arising. Others had gathered weapons and had raced up the stairs before him. Now, he had just leapt into the scene, where he immediately let out a booming cry. Spain and Portugal stood over the limp, curled body of Italy while Spain clutched the still-raised shovel in his hands. Italy's hood had fallen and now the red mess of blood staining the auburn hair on the side of his head was utterly visible.

" _Italy!_ " he shrieked.

"He attacked us!" Spain cried. "He came at us with a knife-"

A ferocious roar ripped from his throat as Germany lunged at him. The shovel dropped from Spain's hands as Germany's weight crashed into him and knocked him to the floor. He gasped before his organs were crushed as Germany threw himself onto him. The air was knocked from his lungs in one painful squeeze, and his mouth gaped in an "o" of surprise as he was left breathless. In the next second, a massive fist smashed into his face and two twin streams of blood burst from his nose. It came down again, hitting it right on so that this time the bone cried out with a solid crack as it broke.

Spain's face turned to the side as he moaned out in pain. Germany's fist raised again but this time Portugal hurled himself at his arm and clung on with all his strength.

"Stop!" Portugal yelled. "It's true! Italy is the killer!"

Germany screamed, "No he is not!"

He surged upwards while twisting his body. Portugal lost his grip and flew a few metres away before colliding with the wall. Germany pounced for Spain again, whose eyes widened, before he rolled just in time to dodge Germany's descending strike. He scrambled to his feet and tumbled towards the stairs where the others were. He shoved past them as Germany charged after him emitting hot breaths, taking on the image of a raging bull.

"Stop!" Canada screamed. He leapt out in front of Germany with his hands held out in front of his chest. Germany halted as Spain fled to the bottom of the stairs, turned and stared back up at him with surprise and fury clenching his face. An explosion of red blossomed in the middle of his face like a glob of paint had been hurled haphazardly at him. His jaw was tightened and his eyes glowed with a green fire.

Germany shifted his own flaming eyes to lock onto Canada's face. What he saw in front of him shifted in and out of focus, so fuzzy but familiar.

 _Canada_ , he realized with a growl. The fury inside him boiled up to the rim as he recalled all together every stand against him that Canada had led. He heard every objection he had emitted, but now in a contorted, irritating voice. The skin on Germany's face scrunched up and his muscles flexed as his blood became white-hot.

"You have to talk to them!" Canada rapidly explained. "You have to listen-"

Germany bellowed before snatching onto his shoulders. Canada gasped as the solid floor left his feet and he sailed backwards through the air with Germany's savage face hovering over him. Canada smashed his back off the stairs and slid down them upside-down before Germany fell onto him and he gagged.

"Canada!" he roared. He sprang off him to allow Canada to tumble down the last few stairs before he raised his foot and stomped down on his gut. Canada made a deep, choking sound before he flipped over and tried to drag himself away. Germany punched his spine to knock him back down, and Canada collapsed instantly.

"Stop!" China hollered. He leapt for Germany, but was immediately elbowed in the face so that his head snapped backwards and he spun away. He turned his attention back to Canada with a snarl, but his vision was overwhelmed with sudden movement before his right eye pressed inwards from a powerful hit. Germany swung out with vicious attacks, trying to pummel Canada. It was then that he caught a glimpse of an intense, savage gleam behind Canada's glasses before hands grabbed his shoulders.

Canada shouted and hurled Germany over the top of the last flight of stairs. He ran after the body that crashed and rolled down every one of the fifteen large steps, and smashed into the table on the first floor. It ceremoniously tipped over as all those left downstairs in the salt circle cried out in surprise and horror. Papers fluttered and flew across the room while the quartz and flashlight hit the floor with clunks. Canada forgot about everything else as he flew forward and swung a mighty kick into Germany's side. Germany took the hit with an infuriated growl, and he shot to his feet and hooked his fist into Canada's face.

"What the bloody hell?" Britain cried.

Canada jabbed Germany multiple times in the gut before leaping upwards and uppercutting his chin. Britain pounced forward and snatched the quartz crystal and pitched it. A jagged lump of soft pink that had been admired once by Russia struck Canada in the ribs with a crack. Canada's arms dropped as he cried out in pain, and a second later he was being completely overwhelmed by Germany.

America's eyes grew huge as he stared at Britain and screamed, "How could you?"

He flew forward and clutched Britain's throat in both his hands. They collapsed with America's knees pinning Britain's arms flat to the ground so he could squeeze his throat and throttle him. America smashed Britain's head repeatedly off the hardwood, and France, who had not seen the quartz been hurled, screamed and tackled America.

"What are you doing?" France cried as America rolled away. Now the fury that was similar to a vision in the air had infected America, and he glared at France with a sharp look heated by white iron. France did not react in time, and he was completely caught off guard by the punch that snapped his head to the side and knocked him off his feet. Britain jumped forward and shoved America to the ground, gasping for breath and rubbing at his aching throat. Feet soon cracked his ankles, and from the ground America tripped Britain before he pounced like a screeching cat upon his fallen form.

From across the room, Switzerland yelled at Germany, "What the hell are you doing?"

Germany paid him no mind as he threw Canada over the table into the outer side of the sleeping area. By pure chance did Switzerland get struck by the flying mass and get crushed under him. Liechtenstein squeaked and clutched her hands over her mouth as simultaneously a stampede of footsteps hurried down the stairs after the action. Switzerland scrambled out for under Canada, turned, and helped lift the bruised and bloody nation to his feet.

Germany prowled forward through the sleeping area with his teeth bared. The savagery that spread so fast around the room as though transmittable through the air, had reached Switzerland. He felt the ferocity rising within him as he watched Germany stalk forward and glare at Canada with eyes cold and bloodthirsty. Switzerland forgot who this was, and he felt the primitive, distinctive instinct to defend them from the incoming predator.

He had been so occupied by Canada that he missed Switzerland springing at him and punching his throat. Germany was the one to choke this time, and as his eyes searched for the one who had struck him, a harsh kick nailed his shin followed promptly by another to his knee. Germany collapsed on one side as Switzerland and Canada raced forward and attacked him.

Germany fell backwards, overwhelmed, until something hurled across the room and snatched Canada by his neck to throw him away. Denmark growled and booted Switzerland, his foot catching him under his ribs and toes pressing into his organs. Switzerland flew away and rolled, coughing and lying immobile on his side as Liechtenstein came crying after him.

Austria saw what had happened to Switzerland, and he gazed in shock and terror at Germany and Denmark, who were now standing side-by-side and waiting for someone to challenge them. Kugelmugel was petrified beside him, so horrified that even he could not summon up a desire to draw the chaos unfolding around them. The other micronations shrieked in terror and hid behind Sweden and Finland, who were now standing and glaring around, ready to defend.

Sweden caught sight of Denmark punching Portugal to the ground after he had run towards Germany screaming, "Stop! You have to listen!"

Then he watched Spain charging forward before Germany snapped back his already brutalized face with another blow. Romano saw this, and he screeched, " _Spain!_ "

Germany snapped his head to the side and gave Italy's brother his relentless, murderous glare. Romano came up to him, throwing out fast punches that Germany ignored as he shot out his foot to the side to send him flying away. Germany turned back to Spain and began beating him until Canada and China jumped onto Germany's back and took him down backwards.

Sweden twitched and almost leapt forward, but then Denmark joined in the fray and threw away China. Japan was racing across the room to his aid, but China had already caught onto the virus in the air, and he gave Denmark a taste of his foot. Denmark tripped over Poland, who had been just another of the spectators caught in awe of the show before them. When Poland panicked and jabbed his arms and legs out randomly in the air to throw him off, Denmark mistook this as an attack and flipped around to stomp his flailing body.

Lithuania cried out and was instantly sprinting towards Denmark as China and Japan simultaneously were. Poland was still shrieking as Denmark kicked his side mercilessly relentlessly. The Nordic turned his head just in time to see three others leaping through the air with their arms outstretched for him. He hollered before being bombarded by the trio and immediately overwhelmed by their kicking feet. He writhed and screamed as he struggled to escape the attacks from the people who were so intoxicated by the air that they did not realize they were not the only ones besetting him.

Denmark twisted away as a kick bruised his one side, throwing himself unintentionally right into another one. His bones cracked and he only continue to shriek. Sweden realized that Denmark was in a dangerous situation, and so he threw himself onto the nearly full weapon stack.

Lithuania gasped as silver flashed blinding light into his eyes while a sharp edge clipped the soft hairs on the tip of his nose. China and Japan leapt backwards as the other hedge clipper blade nearly slashed their diaphragms. China barely avoided it; his costume ported a rip and a deep cut raked over his stomach, though Japan's armor protected himself. Sweden adopted a stance with both his arms stretched out to point the weapons at both sides towards the enemies. Denmark pulled himself into a kneeling position and stared up at Sweden. He was gasping as he wrapped his arms tentatively over his injuries as he tried to recover.

Denmark glanced over worriedly at Germany, who was still deep in battle with Canada, that latter of which was proving to be quite the skilled fighter. They were rolling and exchanging blows with each other consistently, and Seychelles yelped and skidded out of their way as they crashed over the salt line and slid across the floor, spreading out a broken smear of grains behind them.

Canada snatched Germany's thick wrists and struggled to hold them back. He groaned with a gasp,"Why can't you just ever listen?"

He threw away one of Germany's hands to collide his fist into his sternum.

"Liars," Germany growled. "You blamed Prussia, and now Italy! They would never do this!"

He jammed both his feet under Canada's stomach then launched him away. Canada rolled until his hands slapped the floor and he shot up into a crouching position.

"You might be wrong!" Canada cried. "You cannot play favorites no matter how long they've been your friends!"

Germany swung at him, but Canada hopped backwards to dodge.

"Liars," Germany snarled again. "I know who to trust. It is the rest of you who cannot be trusted! Spain attacked him and tried to cover it up!"

He finally struck Canada, causing him to collapse to his knees. Germany dove forward and got his first hold on Canada's throat. He did not squeeze automatically, for his feverish mind panted in excitement for the excuse he would soon definitely get to lose control.

"You don't know"- Canada glared up at him, ignoring the hand on his throat- "You didn't get the other side of the story! Just like it was with Latvia!"

The hand tightened. Canada bared his teeth and hissed as his hands reached up to begin prying off the fingers. One slipped away, but as he went for the second one, Germany slipped it back onto his skin and pressed it in again. He felt the rapid beating of his pulse just under his fingertips, and this made the caged animal within him frenzy as bloodlust overwhelmed it. He clenched his hand harder and harder, trying to get a better feeling of the pulse and press it deeper into his skin. It increased from panic, as Canada was now staring up at the ceiling with his mouth gaping wide.

A lone figure swayed down the stairs, off-balanced and unfocused like a zombie. Its favorite piece of stained silver had been recollected and was now upright in its hand. A poofy, ginger and white-tipped tail swung side-to-side as the figure lurched down each step. At first, no one noticed it as they either participated or was caught in horrified awe watching the chaos unfold before them. Then however, Bulgaria turned his head and saw him. First he noticed the white tuft of fur on his chest with a few simple drops of red clumping some strands together. Then, he saw the knife.

" _Watch out!_ " he screamed. Romania and Moldova snapped their heads to where he was pointing, and gasped.

Germany paused, staring over to find who had screamed. He saw a pale Bulgaria pointing a quivering finger at something past him, and then he slowly turned his head.

His jaw dropped and his muscles went slack. Finger-by-finger, Canada's neck slid from his grasp until he fell and lay gasping over the floor. The fire in his eyes distinguished in the snap of one's fingers, and he was left with the most total feeling of emptiness. The rest of the world shattered and disappeared from existence. All he could see was Italy holding that bloody knife as he walked on a glowing path towards him.

His snarling had diminished into the feeble mewl of a kitten.

"Italy…" he whispered.

The world was gone, so he had no idea where the shrieks sounding his name were coming from. He thought that perhaps, the voices had been imagined. In this brief, complete state of confusion, he had established an axiom that the only people that existed was he and this unrecognizable demon before him. He stared into the eyes. He wondered if perhaps the ones that had belonged to Italy had been gouged out and replaced, for the solid, sadistic glare was so unfamiliar upon the face he had examined only so many minutes ago.

The cry arose, " _Germany!_ "

Italy's arm swung back to prepare the stab that would have followed if Canada had not launched himself from the ground to tackle him to the floor. Italy fell onto his back and pointed the knife upwards, but Canada saw it in the last second and snapped his spine back painfully to avoid impaling himself upon it. He leapt off him as Italy stabbed directly above him. Once the weight was gone, he sprang to his feet and flashed his sharp eyes around the room before he sprinted past Germany on a new, decided target.

Germany turned to follow him with his eyes. He watched the tail bouncing before he confusedly watched someone else appear in his destroyed world. She had her back facing him, but as the running footsteps pounding the floor neared her, Germany saw her frightened face begin to turn. Her eyes shimmered and she cried out once the only other person in this world besides Germany had reached her.

She dropped with half of the knife still plunged in her back between her shoulder blades. The falling body reflecting in Germany's pupils seemed to him to be falling in slow motion. His exhale was silent, barely heard over the arising shriek of, " _Liechtensteiiiin!_ "

 _Liechtenstein?_ Germany thought.

Then he remembered what that word meant. The image of a small, gentle girl clasping her hands in front of her timidly filled his mind. In but an instant a wave flowed over all the surfaces in every direction, and the shattered world snapped its pieces back into place. Sounds of screaming, growling, and crying hit his ears all at once. He saw Switzerland now diving for Liechtenstein as she collapsed onto her stomach over the floor with her arms spread out and a patch of red spread across her pink dress.

Italy hopped down into a squat and yanked at the knife. At first, it could not be removed, for it was lodged fast. Liechtenstein screeched in agony, and Switzerland reached out for Italy. Then however, the knife flew out from her back and slashed across Switzerland's palm. He hissed and pulled back his hand, before he ignored the pain and attempted again.

Italy had now however stepped over the body, and was brandishing his knife wildly at his new quarry. Switzerland leapt backwards, but as he touched the ground, Italy sprang for him. Switzerland saw him flying forward, with the tip of the knife on a straight trajectory for him. He pushed himself backwards, and for a moment, both were suspended in the air. His eyes drifted down to see the knife approaching centimetre-by-centimetre, and his hands slowly raised. The tip pressed into his skin, piercing through it like the shell of an egg and allowing liquid to pump through the incision.

Italy's velocity slowed, and Switzerland carried on away, the tip of the knife slipping out from his neck. His hand finally reached his throat, and it touched against the shallow wound to water his fingertips in blood. He was ready for Italy's next assault, but then Italy's head bent to the side as a powerful punch hit the side of his head, and he fell. The body turned on the floor and looked up at Germany with continued, humanly-impossible, emotionless eyes. Strong hands fell over his wrists, and the hand holding the knife was pressed tightly into the floor.

It seemed as though someone had put some tears on his face, for Germany could not recall how they had gotten there. His neck felt raw as though he had been the one strangled, and he choked out, "Italy… what have you done?"

He blinked back at him, the unnatural gaze flickering on and off.

"Italy!" Germany sobbed. "How could you do this? Y-You… how…?"

Italy looked deep into Germany's eyes and cracked a small, innocent smile. He made no move to escape his grasp. He simply laid there, continuing to grin at him.

Germany pulled his eyes away and gasped as he saw silver flashing once again. This time, it was the from the band of light travelling over the polished blade of a hedge clipper grasped in Sweden's hand. As Sweden dodged Lithuania with a nimble twirl, Germany saw the other hedge clipper half gleaming. His eyes found the weapon stack, where Finland was seen dashing for the scythe.

He watched the two hands snatch onto the handle and pull the scythe close to his body. Finland trotted back to the children as the fighting intensified all around the room. Shrieks of pain were emitted along with screams of terror from those who had seen the weapons being grabbed, and Italy plunging the knife into Liechtenstein's back. Some retreated, while some panicked and attacked the weapon-bearers in an attempt to disarm them. Such was the goal of Japan and China, who were fervently trying to remove the hedge clippers from Sweden instead of backing off.

Germany saw America, Britain, and France engaged in vicious combat. He saw other random, strange individual fights between many others. However, the only ones who had grabbed weapons were the Nordics that he could see. Denmark had snatched the quartz and was now using it as a sort of large, spiked fist to smash into anyone who came too close to him. Germany gazed then at Sweden again then back at Finland, who was clenching the scythe with his eyebrows dipping downwards. The micronations clustered behind him, and Finland made no move to leave them, although his eyes followed every moving body around the room.

America was hurled far away from a combined effort from France and Britain. He slid near Finland's feet, caught sight of the sharp, curved blade above him, and panicked although Finland had only stared down at him with surprise without making a move. As he had done before with Britain, he swept his legs and tripped him. Finland yelped as he stumbled and America thrust his hands forward to snatch hold of the scythe.

"Drop this!" America cried. He fought against Finland, desperately trying to remove the weapon from his hands. Finland pulled it towards his chest, fighting against America's pull as alarm shocked his face. He did not understand that fear was in America's eyes, and that he did not actually want to take this weapon from him in order to attack him and others. He held on with everything he had, and America mistook the refusal to release as Finland's aggressive, savage attitude overtaking him. He therefore tried more frantically to remove it from him, and he raised the scythe along with Finland's arms in order to free up space for him to send a sidekick squarely into his gut.

Finland cried out, which only stung his throat with a painful burn. He clung on tighter, and so America kicked Finland again, harder. Finland tried twisting his body, but he could not dislodge America's grip or avoid his next, harsh kick. Finland yipped in pain again, but still clung on. America was about to kick him again, but when the flesh of his back was ripped open with a long, diagonal slash, he yelled and lost his grip. Sweden shoved his foot down onto the wound and drove America to the ground. Japan and China were racing after the Nordic who had suddenly left their combat upon hearing Finland's first cry, but they were too late to stop Sweden was sinking the hedge clipper blade into the tricep of America's right arm.

America screamed even after the blade had departed from the embrace of his bleeding muscles. Sweden jumped off him, lifted him, and kicked him away while he was in shock. His intense glare disappeared when he turned back and checked over Finland.

Germany watched it all in plunging horror. Canada trotted to his side, grabbed his shoulder and turned him so that they were face-to-face. Germany expected that he wanted their battle to continue, but the warish light in his eyes had completely disappeared and shone with deep worry and fear.

"Stop the fight!" Canada cried.

Germany blinked at him.

"You have to do it!" Canada's voice rose into an exclamation of desperation. "Your Officers have started using weapons. Call them off!"

"My Officers…?" his gaze upon Canada was blurred.

"Call them off before somebody gets killed!"

He understood finally. Grasping his wrists more tightly until Italy's hands turned red, he lifted his head high and boomed in a voice with a loudness that could only be accomplished by him, " _Everyone stop fighting at once!_ "

People froze in their positions of combat. They turned their heads towards Germany, seeing him on all fours, pinning an an oddly grinning Italy who had a bloodied knife clenched in his hand. Racked now with confusion, everyone dropped and forgot the people they were grasping onto. They all just stared at him now, or at the bruised, bloody mess of Canada that was barely held together by his tenderized tissues, who stood beside Germany.

"Nordics!" Germany shouted. "Drop your weapons back into the pile!"

Without hesitation, they broke away from the others and wandered over to where the pile was supposed to be, but now contained but a lonely rifle. Denmark dropped the bloodied quartz lump onto floor beside the hedge clippers.

 _How do I fix this mess now?_ Germany wondered. Now that everything had quieted, his mind began to clear itself of the infectious, savage mist. He found the scattered bricks of his patience, calm, and logic, and he began to stack them back together over each other.

He yelled, "This was all one big misunderstanding! An accident! Everyone needs to pull themselves together and forget what has happened. We need to work together, not fight each other! How will we ever find the missing people if we treat one another like enemies?"

Everyone looked around at each other as though it was the first time that they had ever glimpsed their faces. The blood over each other's costumes was surprising, and the bruises on their faces and those around them were absolutely baffling. They struggled to recall the actions they had just taken, and what exactly they had done to whatever person. When they searched their memories, they only encountered that mist that blotted out everything else.

The first to speak in a weary, nervous voice was Romano. He stared at his brother still pinned below Germany, and he asked, "What the hell happened?"

Spain wiped some of the continuously trickling blood off his face, then replied, "Well, we heard the screams. We came upstairs to investigate, and then Italy came at us with that knife. Germany didn't believe us, so then…"

"One thing led to another," Canada murmured. "That's all there is to it. So everyone please, calm yourselves. No more fighting. We can't hurt each other! This is all the culprit has ever wanted us to do! We cannot fall into their traps anymore!"

Germany agreed with Canada for the first time in a while. For the time being, he wanted nothing more than to work together with him to have this conflict eliminated from everyone's minds so that they could move on. In truth, he now recognized a frustration with himself as he realized how much time had been wasted in both verbal and physical conflicts.

 _Get it together_ , he muttered to himself in his mind. _Prussia needs me. I have to stay sane to find him._

"Clean up everything!" Germany commanded. "Fix the blankets and pillows! Get the salt circle back together!"

Half the people began getting to it, although the other half continued to just stand.

Canada then said, "Please everyone, do as he says. It is the best course of action to take right now."

They finally moved, although Romano had another question. He asked with a look of fear in his eyes, "What happened to Italy? Wait- don't tell me he is behind all this!"

Everyone in the room froze and reconsidered Italy. Before they reacted, Canada exclaimed, "It's not Italy! Something got into him!"

Germany blinked in surprise, but he did not say anything to express it. The truth was that he had not considered this possibility initially, for his mind was still accustomed to not thinking of supernatural answers to confuddling problems. Italy's behavior had put him into shock, but now he felt a relief to hear what Canada had said, and he readily accepted it as the truth.

"He's possessed," Germany affirmed. "He isn't the person."

Sweden, Denmark, and Finland calmed. Then, that was when Portugal gasped deeply and cried, "Wait- then who was upstairs screaming?"

The papers of the logbook were scattered everywhere. Some people started picking them up to find the times for today, but others merely checked around to see if they could figure out who was not present.

The second method proved to be more effective, for soon Denmark was screaming, "Where's Norway and Iceland?"

He tore away to the stairs with a pack of others following him. Most stayed once they saw the large group hurrying up the steps, in order to complete the order they had been given for cleaning up the area. The rumble of footsteps upwards stopped on the third floor as every person looked side-to-side.

A door swung open, causing gasps from all those assembled. Norway swung his body out into the hall to glare over at them.

"It took you long enough," Norway muttered. "Where were you? What happened?"

Denmark trotted down the hall with his arms spread.

"Nor!" he cried. "You're okay!"

Norway placed his hand on his chest to cut the hug short.

"Iceland's hurt," he uttered. "But he's alright."

Denmark cried out and sprang into the room. Norway stood beside the open door and sighed as the rest of the people hurried past him into the room. He walked in after them to see Denmark kneeling beside Iceland and crying, while Iceland sighed as Norway had.

"Would you calm down already?" Iceland muttered, uncomfortable with Denmark balling over him. "I'm fine; it's nothing serious..."

Denmark still wailed and hugged him, minding the sheet that had been wrapped around his abdomen and tied with a finishing knot. He scooped his arms under him, and Iceland looked to the side with a frown as he was picked up from off the bed.

"I'll take you downstairs," Denmark sniffed. "We'll protect you."

Iceland now noticed bruises darkening on Denmark's face. Norway had noticed it by now too, and on the others in the room, although Iceland was the first to ask, "Was there a… fight?"

Denmark walked out with him. His eyelid twitched, and he gave an unnatural smile while saying, "Yeah… kind of…"

The table was back up with the logbook and flashlight set upon it, and even the quartz was placed back in its usual spot despite the blood now on it. Denmark walked around the table, and the others arranging the blankets and pillows perked with excitement as Iceland and Norway were seen returning. This successful recovery helped lift their spirits drastically, for normally whenever the question "Where is…?" was posed, it would be discovered that highly unfortunate things had happened to that person.

Iceland was set on the mattress beside the micronations. Norway sat down beside him on the floor and scanned him. Iceland blinked at him calmly before closing his eyes.

Quiet sobbing sounding out from not so far away caught Norway's attention. Liechtenstein was crying as Canada pressed a piece of blanket against her back and Switzerland murmured to her while holding her hand. Just to the side, he was surprised to see Japan wrapping a strip of sheet around America's upper arm. America's mouth moved as he looked over at Canada, and asked in a murmur too quiet for Norway to hear, "Canada, jeez dude, you look terrible. Are you okay?"

When he was busy taking care of Liechtenstein, it had become easier to forget about the bruises and internal throbbing. However, now that he had been asked, Canada become aware of his bruises that throbbed deeply, with the aching of his bones and internal organs causing him the most agony.

He said to America, "I'll be fine, but it feels like my guts are bruised and my ribs are cracked.

America muttered lowly so that only the five of them heard him saying, "Britain threw the stone at you while he were fighting Germany."

"What?" Canada blinked. "Britain really did that?"

"I couldn't believe it," America hissed. "After he raised us himself… he stabbed you in the back. It took six days and nights before he cracked. Can you believe it?"

"He doesn't have emotions anymore," Canada murmured. "He said that he didn't want to give the ghosts any power, but then he completed his goal too well. He said that he feels nothing, and that he is fine with torturing Latvia. This mansion has changed him. I hope with all of my heart that he can get better when all of this is done."

"I beat the shit out of him for what he did," America growled. "But that still didn't make him realize what he did. Then damn France joined his side, for crying out loud! I don't understand why they support Germany… You've always been good Canada. People should listen to you."

Switzerland murmured, "You are a much better leader than him. You know that I fought on your side today. I'm with you."

Liechtenstein nodded, while Japan said, "Mr. Germany is no longer thinking clearly. I agree that he should step down and let you be in charge."

Canada smiled slightly, and he said, "You would really listen to me? Wow, that's not something I am used to, but if you mean it…"

America said, "Dude, I think more than half support you more than Germany. We should do a vote, and then you can get the majority and win."

"Will he agree to that?"

"He should agree to something fair like that, otherwise he really is a terrible leader."

Britain and France came close, so they paused their conversation until they had passed by with their loads of rope wrapped around them and a chair. They carried on to Germany, who had been waiting on the floor with Italy still pinned beneath him. France set the chair down then helped the other two restrain Italy and lift him onto the seat. When all of the hands grabbed him, Italy burst into a fit of high laughter as he struggled against them. His hand twitched, trying to get the knife close to flesh. They got the ropes wrapped tightly around him so that arms were pressed against his sides, and when he was completely tied up with his hands peeking out from the ropes, they twisted the knife from his grasp.

Italy did not seem to enjoy having his weapon taken away, now he rocked the chair back and forth as he screeched, " _Ajutor! Ajutor!_ "

Canada stopped and whirled around to face where they had Italy tied up just outside of the salt circle. Liechtenstein was now patched up, so he excused himself and hurried towards Germany, Britain, and France. He saw that Romania was also on his way over, and that Germany was looking displeased as these two people approached him.

"What is it?" he asked.

Romania said, "He's speaking Romanian. He's crying for help."

Canada exclaimed, "Latvia said the same thing yesterday when he was possessed, and this voice sounds exactly the same!"

Britain said with a calm gaze on Canada, "So you think that the same ghost has possessed Italy?"

Canada nodded, keeping his expression steady, although he thought, _You turned on me_.

Britain seemed to know that he knew, but did not care. He had his usual calm expression that seemed to imply that he was being a mature adult by ignoring what had happened during the fight. He was purposefully showing that he could get over it, so that Canada would have to do the same or else look childish for being unable to get to the matters at hand.

Canada said, "Although Latvia took a knife as well, he did not display homicidal desire. He seemed more confused and frightened by everything. More human than what Italy has become."

Germany gazed levelly at Canada, his face hardened but finally calm after the fight. He had been given the chance to get his hits in, and then they had stopped on their own to confront the problem that had grown bigger than just the two of them. For now, he was satisfied and desiring to focus upon a problem and work through it to engage his brain.

Germany asked, "Who is it that he is calling out for?"

"Another ghost I believe," Canada replied. "Last time, when I was chasing Latvia, he called out and then I got tripped."

After hearing this, France went to fetch one of the hedge clipper blades. He paused before grabbing one, when he noticed the blood staining the shiny metal, but then he took it by the handle and returned to the others. It was then Britain said, "Hold on. Latvia brought the ghost into the mansion from the forest, and it came from the tunnel. You saw a skeleton down there Germany, with a cross carved into its forehead."

"Yes," he confirmed.

Britain continued, "I think now that stabbing the cross was a mistake. We were wrong. The Orthodox crosses aren't the culprit's source of power. They are supposed to keep these malevolent spirits at ease. Someone put it on this skeleton so that it would not attack people."

Romania said, "I don't know who did that. It wasn't me."

Canada glanced at Britain, swallowed his still powerful, disfavorable feelings for him, then contributed, "These tunnels might have been dug a long time ago, maybe even before the first people moved in."

"Before?" Romania breathed.

Canada said, "You said that the first to live here was a priest and his wife. Perhaps, the priest was the one to fix things. What was his religion?"

Romania gasped, "Why didn't I think of this before? I thought just like the rest of you that one of the Eastern nations here had been using the crosses because they are close to the Orthodox religion. Now I remember! The priest who moved in here was a Lipovan!"

France asked, "What is that?"

Romania replied, "They are the Old Believers of the Russian Orthodox Church. In the 18th century, Lipovans emigrated to area of Moldova and Romania after they were prosecuted by the Russian government and the new Orthodox church. They escaped here in order to continue their practices, although only a population over 30 000 of these people are here today. A few believers live in this area actually. They speak Russian, but most nowadays speak Romanian."

France said, "So this ghost is not a Lipovan?"

"No," Romania said. "So it must be older than when the priest came. Before the mansion was built. The tunnels must also be that old too."

Germany said, "So the priest put down the crosses, and lived peacefully in the house."

"It was peaceful," Romania nodded. "There might have always been ghosts because of the dead Romanians buried here, but none of them followed or attacked people. There were no reports of wolves or of the Shadow in the house's early years either."

Britain said, "But now the spirits try to possess whoever they can."

Canada cut in with, "Not all. One knocked the book down to show me that the culprit has been studying _Lord of the Flies_ as a basis for their game."

"Some helpful ghosts," Germany said with interest. "Is it that those except for the ones in the forest are supposed to be good, but have been corrupted?"

Someone rose and hurried over to them. When they turned, they were surprised to see the arriving Norway and that everyone had clustered on the blankets and had been sitting and listening to the conversation the entire time. They had stayed silent to allow the new information to continue to flow and reach them uninterrupted. Injuries were ignored. They had stopped crying, stopped glaring at each other, to stare up with nothing but awe beside all those they had just fought against. The talk of the supernatural reminded them of the need for cooperation and fraternity against the still large, impending, common enemy.

Norway said, "The natural state is peace. I know it is. Every night I dream of the cemetery. It is so warm and beautiful, but the forest is the place I do not enter. The forest contains the evil, but this mansion and the cemetery is good. Something has infected the goodness with darkness. Slowly, the spirits are turning. Everything is being affected, and it is getting worse. I am getting more visions of the tranquil property that it is supposed to be as it happens; memories of the piece of sacred land that Romania said that the mansion is said to be on."

Canada exclaimed, "Then we have to find out what turned the place dark! When did you say the occurrences started, Romania? Was it after the family was murdered?"

"Yes," he said.

"Hold on," Seychelles leapt up. "You said that everyone in the family was stabbed to death and that only that little girl survived."

"Yeah," Romania said. "That's what I heard anyway."

"They were stabbed to death by thieves," she stressed. "But what if thieves had not done it? The girl says that's what happened, but what if she- the only survivor, had killed her family?"

Britain looked at her approvingly and said, "So she was possessed like Italy. A dark spirit got into her, and when it left, she lied about what happened."

Romania concluded, "And she refused to set foot back in this place again."

Canada said, "So if the priest had pacified all the dark spirits in the forest, that means that she must have destroyed a cross and released one!"

America said, "And now its presence is corrupting everything. As it roams free somewhere, out there."

"Somewhere?" Romania said. "I think we've already encountered this released dark spirit many times. It's the Shadow."

The clock ticked in the following silence.

Canada clenched his fist and exclaimed, "Then we have to get rid of it! We can destroy the darkness then nothing will be in the way of us finding the missing people!"

The former enemies leapt up together with cries of rapture. They flashed exhilarated glances at each other, muscles flexed and geared. White grins alighted all around the room, matching the ever present one upon Italy's absolutely uncomprehending face.

Germany stood beside him, "We will search for the destroyed cross along with the missing people! We will work together! We are one against the darkness! We will prevail! We will beat this game!"

The mansion was filled with a chorus of whoops and applause. The energy sparked back into the room, but this time, one of positivity. Their feet tapped impatiently, ready to race into action and return victorious. They saw Italy tied up and helpless, having fallen to them. He became the image of proof to them that they had the power to triumph over the darkness as their leaders both Canada and Germany, had prophesied it.

After all of those days of chaos and suspicion, they finally stood beside each other like they had on the first night. They had a fresh goal to pursue, and something new to pour all of their hope into. It was the very attitude of "How can we fail now?" that put the life back into them.

Germany could finally remember Prussia's face. The haze faded, and the lines of his facial structure fell into place. The red-violet of his irises twinkled until the light of the chandelier as he saw Prussia looking down contently at the piece of strawberry cake he held on a small plate before remembered such peace in his heart to be there at the party beside him. He remembered Prussia perking at the sight of Hungary and Austria, then hurrying over to them with that cake in his hands and the cloak of his black archer costume fluttering. The arrows in his quiver bounced and crashed into each other and the bow, as Germany had continued to look after him.

The memories were so clear now, and he felt tears prick his eyes as he stared up to his fist still raised high. He was so thankful to have them back. He felt that after the suffering they had all been through, after the fight of today, that things would look up. No matter what mistakes they had made, they were still mendable. Russia still might be recoverable, and Latvia's body had not been found. His heart burst with passion as the other hearts in the room did as well as they realized this. They believed that they could save them, apologize forever, and restore everything to the way that it had been before they came to the mansion.

" _Down with the Shadow!_ " a cry started.

The others had as well, remembered the faces of the missing people. The memories flashed behind their eyes, and Italy only flicked his between every passionate face while his remained utterly blank.

Britain said to Germany over the chanting, "I can fix what you did in the tunnel. We'll take care of that, then we might not have to exorcise Italy. Shall we do this now?"

"They're ready," Germany pulled his lips to the side as he gazed at the excitement in front of them that only continued to rise.

Canada said, "We need patch everyone up first. Some of them are still bleeding."

The noted example was Norway, seen as he walked back to where the other Nordics were, with a large blot of blood sticking on the back of his shirt from a wound just shallower than Liechtenstein's.

"Fine then," Germany said.

Canada departed them to immerse himself into the crowd. He caught up to Norway and tapped him on the shoulder. He turned, and Canada told him, "You need to take care of your wound still."

Norway appeared confused, and when Denmark heard this, he saw Norway's back for the first time now that it was turned to him, and he cried, "Whoa! You're bleeding, Nor!"

Norway said, "Oh, I remember. Italy… but it's not bad."

Denmark grabbed his arm and started pulling him towards the designated treatment area, saying, "We got to patch you up right now!"

Canada followed them over to where China had settled with Japan to clean off the blood from each other's faces. When Norway sat, China pounced on him before Canada could, wrapping up the injury and treating him. Canada left it at that, and checked around to see if other people had any more unnoticed, serious injuries.

America caught up to him.

"Hey dude, are you going to say anything to Germany?" he asked.

"It's alright right now," Canada replied. "We're agreeing, and I think what happened today changed things."

"What if he's still bad? He might turn on you, like Britain did."

"We have to look past that for now," Canada said. "Everyone's hopeful and in a good mood right now. I can't ruin that."

America said, "But Germany and Britain don't care about Latvia… they still might hurt him and other people. You need to step up man, before they do something bad while they still have power!"

"I will," Canada said. "Just not yet. Don't worry though, I will stand up and make sure they don't hurt anyone anymore."

"You know I'm with you," America murmured.

"Thank you," Canada gave him another, tranquil smile.

The logbook was remembered, and everyone eagerly hopped over to the table to cram together as a crowd instead of the usual line. America joined in the back of the crowd, and he was the last to sign out after Finland, who had deemed himself recovered enough to venture back outside. Iceland and Liechtenstein would stay behind this time to recover, and Norway's wound was not serious enough for him to decide to stay as well.

As America was leaving, Canada examined the thick bandage around his arm and asked, "America, are you alright?"

America stopped in the doorway, with sunlight glowing around his form.

"Yeah, dude. No big deal."

"But Sweden stabbed your arm..."

America shrugged, took the door handle, and began to close the door. Before it clicked shut and physically separated the indoor group from the outdoor ones, his voice with a hint of a dry laugh snuck through.

"Well… My advice to you is to not mess with those Nordics."

Italy's continued grin gave the appearance of expressing humor. Perhaps not for what America had said, but perhaps because twenty-two people had just left behind the safety of the reestablished salt circle to return to the silent realm of the forest where rotting secrets lay concealed. It might have been hilarious to this ghost like the situation would be for a culprit, where all these people were willingly throwing themselves into an unpredictable, dangerous location to pursue their dark fates.


	12. Secrets Plucked from Darkness

_"Which is better — to have laws and agree, or to hunt and kill?"_

* * *

The full and warm afternoon sun shone peacefully over the multitude of forms that prowled through the cemetery. Plastered on their faces was the same bold look of confidence that every group that had departed the mansion had obtained. In a seemingly merry step, Denmark swung his arms loosely, the half of the broken hedge clippers clutched tightly in his hand slicing the air repeatedly.

At their side, Germany's group marched with the reestablished Nordics group for the moment. The group composed of Britain, France, Austria, and Switzerland were crossing the cemetery far to the left, while to the right, the three other groups were splitting and heading off into the forest. Practically every group had at least a single weapon among their members, including the rifle strapped around Bulgaria, the shovel grasped in Vietnam's hands, then the assortment of pans and knives that had been stolen from the kitchen to arm the individuals. The other half of the hedge clippers was currently being transported by Britain's group, along with their prepared plastic bag of items for the ritual.

They walked onwards in a purposeful, dignified manner, until Denmark halted, pointed far out across the cemetery and yelled, "There it is!"

The tip of the blade lined up at the skeletal, two-metre shadow standing beside the burial vault. Its body faced them and white, orbed eyes focused upon their nearing forms. Finland twitched and kept his eyes lowered upon its slender legs and long, dangling fingers, as to not meet its unblinking eyes.

Finland's whisper had a nervous quiver, "It was there before lunch too, just staring at us from across the cemetery when we were in the library."

It seemed to be rooted in the exact same spot. Finland wondered then if it was possible that it had never moved at all. He shivered again as he imagined it there for hours, completely unmoving, staring at the mansion during all of the time they had been fighting inside in total ignorance.

America growled, "So that's the thing responsible for all the crazy shit that's been going on here?"

They crept cautiously towards it, although it still made no move towards them. It was silent, and still only staring at them all collectively.

Germany said, "We are not sure if the supernatural beings are the cause for the disappearances, or completely unrelated. Either way, they are dangerous. If we can eliminate them, then it will become far more easier to search for the missing people."

Denmark hissed, "I'd like to give it a taste of iron for what it's done to everyone!"

His muscles bunched to dash forward, but Germany barked, "Stay! Do not run off ahead and take unnecessary risks."

"But this works on it!" Denmark protested. "It gets hurt by iron!"

Finland murmured,"But it comes right back. It is a lot more powerful than the other ghosts in the house."

"Yeah," Denmark sighed while lifting his eyes and glaring back sharply at the Shadow. "But still…"

Lithuania asked, "So what are we going to do? Engage it?"

"Leave it," Germany said. "We will explore in the forest back there where it is sometimes seen. There must be some reason why it goes so deep into the forest, and my guess is that its body is hidden back there."

They begin to change their path so that they could circle around it from a distance. They kept many metres between themselves and it, and Denmark watched it closely while walking sideways. Its head creaked degree-by-degree, pivoting slowly to follow them, until its body followed the trend and turned to face them.

Germany stopped, and the others did as well. From the short distance away, they regarded the Shadow and waited in expectation. The wind sighed and the forest rose into a hubbub as the trees whispered to each other in a language of rattling branches, swishing needles, and shaking leaves. When the wind's strength drew out and silence returned, the black mandible pulled downwards and a soft, drawn-out moan escaped from the seemingly infinite, black hole of a mouth. For many seconds, it continued generating the unnerving rasps that caused the seven of them to twitch in discomfort. Even under the blissful, clear, and sunny sky of the bright day, that sound drenched in the essence of the cold, night cemetery chased away the feeling of the light. Intertwined in its chilling, dead rasps, there was another quality that rang of ancient suffering that caused goosebumps to spot their arms.

Poland trembled, then whined, "What are we doing? Can we just get going now?"

He was ignored. The others only stared at the Shadow as its mouth closed and it silently examined them. Germany narrowed his eyes and gazed back at it while pondering, _It's like when it was standing in the forest before, when I was able to pass by it with Denmark without any problems. Why is it acting so strange? Why is it no longer attacking? What single action have we done that has changed its attitude?_

It emitted a long, deep exhale that was choked and whistling. The loudness was steady, but the tone wavered between one of high insistency and a low one that seemed to hint at something dark forthcoming.

Poland became more agitated and he started to tug at Lithuania.

"Let's go!" he cried. "There's totally no reason to be here so let's leave the creepy thing alone!"

Germany just muttered, "You said it has been standing here since the morning?"

Finland jumped when he realized the question had been directed at him.

"Oh, um- yes," he replied, careful with his voice.

"There must be a reason."

Germany looked past the Shadow at the closed door into the burial vault.

 _Did that one group ever finish searching in there?_ Germany now wondered.

"I want to explore the tomb again," Germany said.

Poland gasped, "Right now of all the times? Are you crazy?"

Germany replied, "It's alright. It isn't moving, and if it does move, we can defend ourselves against it. First, I need some people to stay here with the weapon and watch it, and the rest to accompany me to the mansion to retrieve the flashlight."

His group members appeared more spooked than the Nordics did. America was displaying his discomfort with ghosts at that moment clearly, with his widened eyes and raised eyebrows. Poland was still trembling as he remembered the tale of how this creature had chased Sweden, Denmark, and Finland through the forest. Poland expected it to burst into action at any second and catch them off guard. Lithuania only appeared stressed, and in the end he chose to stay with the Nordics with the Shadow.

It was a long walk back across the expansive cemetery. They passed by countless tombstones in silence, not talking to each other and instead just shifting their eyes to scan the area around themselves. Britain's group disappeared into the wall of the forest as did Romania's, Spain's, and the small one containing only China, Seychelles, and Vietnam. Germany checked over his shoulder constantly to see that the Shadow was still immobile and merely still staring at the group a few metres away from it.

Those inside were surprised when the door burst inwards. They leapt to their feet as though expecting an attack, but only Germany, America, and Poland entered. Germany stepped around the sleeping area to get to the front table. He gave Italy a quick glance as he walked by him, although he still sat only calmly, smiling at everything although his eyes only appeared so cold and lifeless.

Canada asked, "Why are you back?"

Germany replied, "The Shadow is still standing by the tomb. I feel as though something important might be in there, so I am going to go check it out."

"It's still there?" Canada mused. "I wonder why..."

Germany did not have anything else to say, so he snatched the flashlight, turned, and walked out again. Iceland peeked up from where he had been lying on his side, eyes widening after having had heard the conversation. The memory of being contained in the tomb surrounded by whispers returned to him. He remembered the beam of the flashlight cutting through the murk, highlighting the descent of a skull that hit the ground and promptly began rolling towards his group. Iceland twitched, which caused pain to flare up in his side.

Iceland then decided to call out, "Watch your feet! There should be a skull right by the doorway!"

Germany heard him, and recalled the story that Iceland's group had told the others back on the second day. He nodded at him once, with his face still calm and unaffected by this warning. He took his leave then with the others, going back around the mansion and coming to the backyard that was the cemetery.

As they began to cross the field, Germany peered far out in order to see the four people still standing together with a tall, slouching form beside them. He thought, _It's still not moving. I wonder why it seems to be guarding that spot?_

After many long minutes, Germany, America, and Poland had arrived to the sides of the others.

Denmark reported, "Hasn't done a thing except moan every once in a while."

Germany said, "Give me the weapon. I'm going to see what happens when I approach it."

"Careful," Sweden reminded him. 'The touch burns."

Denmark slipped the handle of the hedge clipper half into his hand. Germany then took a step towards the Shadow with the blade at the ready. The form that towered above him tilted its head slightly downwards to focus onto him. Germany paused when its jaw lowered again and left its mouth wide open to hoarsely rasp, " _Cuuuiiiiahhhheeennnneeeeahhhrggg!_ "

Germany twitched, then continued to move forward as it was still emitting its bone-chilling noises. With the exception of its mouth, the rest of its body stayed still. Germany was more uneasy because of this, for it seemed so likely that the creature was waiting for him to come closer so that it could lash out unexpectedly.

He came within three metres of it, but it still did not move. Germany crept forward another metre. He gasped when the massive shadow snapped out of existence without a warning so that the door was now all that stood before him. He stopped and turned back to the others, who appeared as equally confused as him.

"Umm…" Poland blinked. "You sure you still want to go in there?"

Germany replied, "I think that is point, and good or bad, I am going to take a good look in there. The rest of you can wait out here."

He took the last few steps until he could grasp the black handle tightly and tug the door open. A thick, musty smell blew over him and his stomach clenched in revulsion. His face wrinkled, but he clicked the flashlight on and shone it around the room before entering. A quick glance introduced him to an assembly of skeletons laid out on stone beds in the walls and on stone tables. In the back were two large, closed coffins, and when he zoomed the light to his feet, he found a long-legged, scrawny spider among some of its smaller brethren. He scanned the floor with the light, but the skull that had been said to have fallen was nowhere in sight.

He checked on the skeletons on both his sides by the entrance. He stepped inside, giving solid glares at them as though intimidating them to stay still like all skeletons were supposed to. He walked to the first one and examined its body carefully, looking for something that could be of importance. He found nothing, and instead looked into the corner past it before continuing on.

He turned around and walked to the other skeleton by the entrance, giving it a good look before checking the skeleton in the wall behind it. Those outside had a good view of Germany as he paced around with the light zooming around in random directions. Every once in a while even they were able to catch a glimpse of a skeleton that he had illuminated, and they looked on fearfully, expecting that in an upcoming instant all the skeletons would drop from their berths, crawl over, and overwhelm him in a sighing, doggy pile of cold bones.

They heard Germany's footsteps on the floor, but not the same very soft, dragging noise that Germany had started to hear right in front of him. He turned his body in the direction of the noise, and his light hit the two coffins in the back. He heard the shuffle again, seeming to come from behind those two large, solid objects of stone. Germany stepped towards them, the hedge clipper half upright and slightly pointed forward at the ready.

Someone yelped behind him, "No!"

The door could not be caught in time before it slammed shut. Lithuania snatched the door handle and pulled desperately at it, but the door remained held in place. Germany glanced back at the spot where the sunlight entering the narrow tomb had been cut off. The black rectangle outlined in yellow cracks pounded as Lithuania fought to pull the door open. Germany heard a cry of, "I can't get it open!" before there was a snap and those outside were yelping in horror.

"Germany!" Denmark exclaimed. "Are you alright?"

His flashlight flickered as he stared at the door.

"I'm fine!" he called back.

The light still fixed on the coffins held a rising form in its beam. Germany was just turning his head to it when the flashlight flickered off again. He growled and tapped it, until his hand froze as he heard a shuffle scraping a few steps in front of him. He stepped backwards, weapon pointed at the sound in the darkness, until the dying flashlight gave forth just enough effort to power on and burst light over the figure lurching towards him.

Germany gasped, and the weapon dropped from his slackened hand. Sudden emotion filled him and he fell to his knees with a hollow whisper of, "Latvia…"

A thin arm crossed over his eyes to block out the powerful beam upon his face. A drowsy murmur followed, "Germany?"

Germany stared in awe. It was hard to believe what he saw before him. It seemed that he had been gone for a much longer time, and with all that had been going on since last night, this person had very nearly slipped his mind completely.

Germany whispered, "You're alive… But what are you doing in a place like this?"

The skinny body dove for him and clung to him. Germany's eyes shot open in surprise, and from outside, Denmark was calling out, "Germany? I'm going to break down the door!"

"Wait!" Latvia whispered urgently.

Germany replied to Denmark, "Don't break the door! We might need it. I can still get out, and I have a weapon so do not worry until you hear me screaming."

Denmark started to protest, but Germany ignored him as suddenly small hands cupped his ear and Latvia rose up and pressed against him. Germany supported his back with one hand to keep him upright.

"I don't know if we can be heard," Latvia whispered. "Even if I am really sure that you are not the culprit."

"What?" Germany murmured. "Not the culprit? What do you mean? Don't you know who it is?"

"No," Latvia replied. "They had a loose black cloak covering them, and they wore America's _Scream_ mask. They also had his voice changer, so I didn't know who was talking."

A look of utter astonishment was slapped upon Germany's face like it had been stamped there. He said, "Those items were discarded and locked up in a room."

Latvia continued, "They were tall I think, but I only saw them from where I was hanging, so I am not sure how tall. The cloak made it hard to make out a body figure as well."

Germany whispered, "Did they tell you to blame Russia?"

"Yes… They said that I had to say it was Russia and explain nothing. I could not say that I was threatened at all, or if I knew who the culprit was. If I did, they would kill two of the missing people and leave them to rot beside the others. Th-then… they said they would cut out the tongues and eyes of the living ones… and put them in a bag somewhere for us to find."

Germany exhaled slowly and stared straight ahead at the light still pointed at the wall. Guilt overwhelmed him as he remembered beating and choking Latvia, trying to get an answer that he did not even have. He could see it all now from Latvia's eyes, how the world around him wanted to break him, and all he could do was cling to his silence where at least four people would be safe from horrifying fates.

 _He kept Prussia safe_ , the thought burst into Germany's mind.

Latvia sniffed, "I'm a terrible person…"

Germany snuck his other arm around him.

"It's not your fault," he stated. "I was wrong."

There was a massive bang at the door as Denmark attacked it.

" _Germany!_ " he shouted. "What happened? Are you okay? I'm breaking the door down!"

"Wait!" he cried back. "I found something and I'm coming out!"

He looked back to the side at Latvia and murmured, "Let's get you out of here."

Germany was about to detach himself from him, but Latvia hastily told him, "I can't walk, Germany. My knee…"

Germany glanced down and noticed among the dried mud clumped on his costume's fur, there was a dark patch of blood. Germany said, "Hold the flashlight for a moment."

Germany passed the flashlight into his hand, and a second later Latvia squeaked in surprise and slight pain when he was hoisted into the air and dropped onto Germany's shoulders. Latvia's thin legs dangled over his chest, and he tried to hold them still to keep his injured one from swaying and bringing him further pain.

Latvia passed down the flashlight, and Germany bent down and retrieved the hedge clipper blade. Germany felt him shivering as Latvia bent over and wrapped his arms around his neck. Germany swallowed uncomfortably as his Adam's apple was pressed, and he muttered, "Stop choking me."

"S-Sorry…" Latvia looked for something else to cling to, but ended up just putting his hand down on his collarbones. Germany lowered himself, found the door handle that had not been snapped off like the one on the other side, grabbed it, and pushed forward. He was careful when he departed the tomb to crouch low enough that Latvia's hair only scraped across the top of the door.

The eyes of everyone widened in surprise before sunny joy lit their faces. Lithuania's eyes shone as he clasped his hands together and yelled in elation, "Latvia!"

Latvia looked down excitedly to see the others again. He smiled and chirped back, "Lithuania!" while swaying his upper body side-to-side in excitement.

"You're okay!" Lithuania cried. "I can't believe it!"

Germany quickly snuck in a command through the excitement for the Nordics to take the weapon and continue on into the forest. Germany's group surrounded him like a swarm of eager puppies; they jumped around him relentlessly exclaiming in joy. None of them seemed hostile towards Latvia even if they had not received any information about why he had lied the night before. They were too astonished and joyful for that moment that someone who had gone missing had been reclaimed.

Poland piped out, "What happened to you?"

"Ahh… It's a weird story," Latvia dipped forward until his face nearly touched Germany's hair. "Should I tell it now or wait…?"

"Now!" Poland exclaimed. "I'm dying to know what happened!"

Germany said, "I am curious as well."

America added, "Just tell everybody as many times as you have to."

"Okay," Latvia replied. "I guess I don't mind."

They trekked through the cemetery, listening attentively without interruption to Latvia's story.

"I climbed a tree when I got outside, and I sat there for a long time thinking about everything that happened. I was feeling so bad for what happened to Russia, but I was scared to come back because everyone was so angry with me. I decided in the end to come back, because if I ran away so many people would die… I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I did that. It was dark when I climbed back down, and really quiet. I was going to walk back to the front, but I went to the wrong side and then found myself in the cemetery.

"I was about to walk back, but then I heard the wolves. I was running for that tree"- Latvia pointed far ahead at a large one with thick knots in its trunk- "But they caught up to me before I could be getting to it. Then I didn't see a tombstone, so I ran into it and broke my kneecap. I thought it was over, because I couldn't run and the wolves started to surround me. But then, the Shadow came.

"I thought again that I was going to die. It came up behind me and scared all the wolves away. I looked up and saw it reaching for me, so I screamed and screamed but then… it took a hold of my pendant. I was so confused that I stopped screaming. It still stared at it for the longest time, and I didn't know what to do, so I just lay there in case it would attack me if I moved. It was moaning as it held the gem, but after a while I noticed that it was making the same kind of sounds. It might have been the same word over and over again, but I didn't know what it was.

"Then it walked away a few steps then looked back at me. I realized that it wanted me to follow it, so I dragged myself after it. I thought that it was going to show me something important, but then it stopped right outside the tomb. I didn't want to go in at first, but I saw all the eyes watching among the trees. The wolves… the only thing holding them back still was the Shadow and it was looking like the Shadow really did not like them. The moans changed and it sounded very angry. So I was thinking then that the Shadow wanted me to go into the tomb because I would be safe there from them.

"I went inside, closed the door, and dragged myself across the floor. It was really scary in the dark. I couldn't see, and I heard Iceland's story that there are so many skeletons in the walls. I was thinking about this when my hand touched something and it was...the skull. I started screaming again and tried to get away from it. I lay against the stone coffin, and I think I sat there just crying for hours. I thought I made such big mistake in going in. I heard the whispering around me, then the Shadow must have left because I heard growling and things circling around and around the building. I didn't know what to do… but then, after a while… I realized that nothing had happened to me, or was going to happen.

"They are just regular people… just dead. I remembered this and I wasn't so scared anymore. They did not seem evil. I listened to them for a while, and it sounded as though they were talking to each other. I wondered if it was about me, because they started after I was there for a while. They didn't sound so bad either… their voices more soft. Maybe they were gentle grannies for all I knew. I became calm after thinking that, so then I wondered if it would be polite to take the skull off the floor and put it out of the way. It was a weird thought, but I did it anyway. I put it on coffin before I lay down and eventually fell asleep. I was really tired, so when Germany came in, that was when I woke up."

America, Poland, and Lithuania stared up at Latvia in amazement. Germany was even surprised by the weight on his shoulders. He said, "So you are saying that the Shadow helped you?"

"Yeah," Latvia replied.

"But why?" Germany pondered aloud. "Does that make our hypothesis wrong?"

Latvia asked, "Hypothesis?"

Germany explained, "We thought that the Shadow was a released dark spirit. One that has been affecting the other spirits and changing their energy negatively. However, it did not try to possess you, rather it decided to save you instead."

"It's good," Latvia stressed. "It is against the wolves, and it tried to tell me something."

Lithuania said, "Was it trying to speak Romanian?"

"I think so," Latvia replied.

"Not Russian?" America asked. "I mean, it might be a Lippovan too."

"Not Russian," Latvia affirmed. "I know that much."

Germany said, "Then we have to bring it up to Romania to see if he can catch onto what it is saying."

"It made a _cuiarhniag_ sound, if you shorten it anyway," Latvia said. "But when it saw the wolves it was just random, loud rasps that weren't sounding like words at all."

"We were wrong," America said. "The Shadow isn't what we think it is. It stood outside of the building the whole morning and afternoon so we could find Latvia."

Germany then muttered, "If it is this intelligent and did this, then why did it seem aggressive at times and was chasing people? Why does it just stand still now? Actually, the better questions that no one can answer yet regard its purpose here, and what it wants."

* * *

As the other group was returning with their surprise, Canada's group waited completely unknowingly. They sat around with their papers and books, although occasionally worried glances were thrown over at Italy as though to make sure that he was still there. A wild gleam of excitement twinkled in his eyes whenever he got to make eye contact with someone. His eyes had the chance to convey how very much he wanted to murder them, and how he would definitely attack them at that moment if the ropes were not there to hold him back. No one stared back into that gaze for long, for they would soon become unsettled by that predator residing in Italy.

Italy raised his head back for a cry to pass through his straightened throat.

" _Ajutooor!_ "

They snapped their heads up in attention. The call was startling when all had been silent except for the occasional protests from the clock at random minutes. Italy dropped his chin and whipped his head to the side to press his cheek against the back of the chair. The eye they saw was mostly white as his brown iris was seen as a sliver almost out of view. They followed his line of sight that was directed down the hall behind him.

Canada murmured, "I wonder why it is calling out for help. It can get out of Italy whenever it wants to, can't it?"

"I think so," Japan said. "But it cannot repossess anyone else right now because we are in the circle."

Iceland asked, "Do you think that it can only get into the circle while inside Italy?"

Canada replied, "It must be the reason."

"Then it wants to get out of the ropes without losing Italy," Japan said. "Because if it leaves Italy and manages to cut the ropes, Italy has enough time to jump in here."

Sealand then asked, "Why did it not possess anyone else when we first tied it up?"

Canada said, "It would have no weapon, and there were so many people that we could just take down the next person."

"And have you been looking at his eyes?" Japan asked. "It has been watching us the whole time, and looking at the protective items. I think it wanted to calculate first, but maybe now it is ready to attack anyone who comes near it."

Italy cried out again, " _Ajutoooor!_ "

The lights down there were off at the moment, and only patches of sunlight were illuminated with bright white. Canada narrowed his eyes and was the first to notice something darker among the shadows shifting, avoiding the areas of light so that it was barely visible. The others soon caught sight of it and gasped one after the other. It continued flowing forward with light steps grazing over the carpet. Italy screamed out again a call for help.

Canada jumped to his feet, thinking, _Oh no. We don't have any iron, and we have to do something to make sure Italy isn't released! But what…?_

Canada watched the dark form drifting towards them. He looked back to the others, calling out, "Nobody leave the circle!"

Canada dashed to the table and snatched the quartz crystal before sailing over the salt line. He tore past Italy, who stared back at him with large eyes and an impossibly wide grin. Canada did not look back as he headed on a beeline towards the incoming shadow figure. He stopped, planting his feet firmly into the ground as he took on a stance.

The hands that were filled with the lump of quartz were shoved forward. Shards of soft pink stabbed into the black, misty body, and instantly the shadow stopped as though petrified. It faced forward as though analyzing everything before it, then it made its decision.

The ghost stepped away from Canada, and without giving the simplest explanation, it turned around to breeze away back the way it had come. Canada's arm lowered, and he stared down at the crystal with nothing but admiration. He looked forward and gasped when an explosion of screams erupted from the micronations, followed by the cries of terror coming from Liechtenstein, Japan, and Iceland.

From behind Italy, Canada turned to as well see the inky black mist that was pulling itself from Italy's body. Italy bent backwards as much as the ropes would allow as the flickering form parted from him strand-by-strand like sticky glue. The dark mass flopped from his body onto the floor, and in an instant its black face had whipped backwards towards Canada. It bore ruby, veined eyes that resembled the pulp of red grapefruit, and in these fantastic irises, there were droplets that likened pricks of blood that were swirling in opposite directions around the pupils.

When he met its eyes, a fuzzy, staticky tingle immediately consumed his body. His consciousness become smudged, like writing on a chalkboard smeared by the first erasing sweep of a brush. He became enchanted by the vivid colour and the swimming crimson. It made him see what he wanted to, and his fear floated away. He was caught in a dream stage, where he knew what he saw was false, although that truth was pushed out of the way into the depths of his mind.

He dimly compared the colour of the creature's eyes to something close to Prussia's, and so the darkness of the creature's face was forgotten as he imagined the other face instead. A brief feeling of happiness came to him, and his mind cried, _He's back! He can help us find the others, and then we can all get out of here!_

A scream from Japan broke through the haze, " _Canada!_ "

Canada blinked and the dream of Prussia disappeared. His vision refocused just in time for him to see a crouching, black creature spring off the floor and lunge at him with outstretched arms. Canada yelped and tripped backwards, breaking eye contact with it as he fell onto the hardwood. The shadow landed on the spot Canada had been, and was now scrambling frantically across the floor on all fours towards him. The bright, red eyes tried to hold a gaze with him, but Canada squeezed his eyes shut with a grimace as he sat up and shoved the crystal forward.

The creature skidded to a stop before it was impaled on the shards. Like a startled fox, it skipped backwards on crossing limbs, before it curled upwards and stood. Canada peeked open his eyes, but he saw how the creature had now turned towards those clustered anxiously in the circle.

Canada cried, "Nobody look into its eyes!"

It sprinted towards them, and they shrieked while covering their faces or slamming their eyelids together. It lunged for them all, but then the dark arms folded and the head snapped to the side as though its neck had broken. It slid down the invisible wall and fell into a slump on the hardwood. After a few seconds where nothing had occurred to them, everyone else flashed open their eyes to catch a glimpse of the black figure creeping around the circle on disproportionately skinny limbs.

Canada snuck forward until he had reached the chair where Italy had begun to squirm. Italy was starting to emit soft, confused sounds, but then he stopped when Canada's hands softly touched his mouth. Italy looked to the side as Canada put his head over his shoulder so that Italy could see who it was.

The creature had not taken any notice of them. Canada quietly placed the quartz in Italy's lap before he clutched the back of the chair with one hand while the other was placed on its bottom. He raised the entire chair off the ground, and stepped towards the salt circle while the creature had its back to him. It twitched convulsively as it stood up and pressed its hands against the barrier, fingers spreading as it put its face as close to Liechtenstein's as it could. She whimpered, for she had glimpsed its shifting feet a few metres away from her, and now she was squeezing a blanket tightly as she shivered with her eyes closed.

The shadow head unexpectedly whipped to the side towards Canada and Italy. Italy yelped, and Canada looked away from the creature and only forward as he scrambled for the circle. He skipped over the salt line, stumbling, then slamming the chair down on the floor. It wobbled, but then the chair held steady. Canada tumbled forward, caught his balance, then turned around.

The creature was now raging for all of its quarry had escaped it, and it was now glitching and flitting around the room. Canada sighed, then collapsed so that he was sitting with his legs tucked close to him, feet up, and his palms flat on the ground. He enjoyed the moment of relief until Iceland muttered, "So now what?"

The thing prowled back towards them, one foot gliding after the other. The eight of them watched on with concern knitting the muscles on their faces, until the creature paused halfway through a step. It twitched, set down the hovering foot, and turned around slowly. The faces of the viewers were wiped blank as now confusion came to them.

It sprinted towards the door. The red-eyed monster burst through the wood, popping out into the outside world as it was hindered by nothing. It whipped to the side and raced across the lawn, silently zipping by the windows of the first floor without the grass underfoot bending or swishing at all to indicate its presence.

It was therefore that its appearance took Germany's group by surprise. It jumped out from around the corner without warning, and they all jolted with yips. Germany shouted and tread backwards with Latvia panicking on his shoulders. Germany coughed when arms squeezed around his throat as Latvia bent forward and clung as though his life depended on being as close to Germany as possible. America leapt over a tombstone with Lithuania and Poland skittering after him. America threw his head over his shoulder, seeing the others who had as well started to flee before looking back ahead to scream, "What the hell is that?"

The pace of the shadow creature increased, and the distance between it and the others rapidly closed. Its silent feet sprang across the cemetery, and the five looking back at it could only cry out then look despairingly on ahead. Their quivering eyes stared across the cemetery to the pines by the burial vault where the three Nordics had departed with the iron weapon. The handles of the knives were gripped tightly as they ran, although they knew that the hedge clipper blade they had given to the other group was the only effective weapon against this enemy. The knives were fine for defense against wolves, but when they had given the hedge clipper away, they had expected the other group would have a more crucial need for it in the forest. Or it was rather that Germany had fully believed that they would be safe crossing the sunny field back to the mansion.

When no one responded to America, he only continued to cry out, "Oh shit, we're screwed!"

Latvia gasped when a black form dashed below him past Germany. It continued on, and the others yapped and dodged to the side as the creature carried on its trajectory. They all halted to watch the shadow continue away across the cemetery, fazing through all tombstones in its way. They watched it make a sharp turn, then sprint into the wall of forest on the left.

They realized its goal now. Lithuania breathed, "It is going for Britain's group. That must be the ghost that had possessed Italy, and Britain just did something that it is not liking at all."

Poland asked nervously, "Do they have iron on them?"

"They do," Germany affirmed. "Britain assumed that something like this would happen."

Lithuania said, "I hope they're ready."

The group would never make it back in time to warn them. They therefore continued on towards the mansion to return the trembling mass on Germany's shoulders to safety.

* * *

Italy squirmed and cried out, "Somebody please tell me what happened! What is going on? I'm so confused!"

Japan came up to him and started untying the ropes. He replied, "You were possessed."

"Oh no! What did I do?"

"Do not worry about it," Japan replied.

Italy gasped, "Ah! Was it bad?"

The door creaking inwards saved Japan from having to think of how to avoid giving Italy the answer. Every head lifted to see who the arrivals were, and they were surprised to see America popping in.

Canada exclaimed, "Are you all okay? Did you see the ghost?"

"Yeah, we did," America replied as he left the doorway to allow Lithuania to enter. "But it went past us. It was heading straight for Britain's group."

Canada continued, "So what are you doing back?"

After Poland walked in, Germany ducked down through the doorway. He had heard the question, and he now responded, "This is why."

He stopped and waited for all eyes to scan up his form and find the small body perched on his shoulders. One-by-one, they gasped and started to tremble in excitement. Canada trotted forward with wide eyes, crying out, "You found him!"

Canada noticed the filth weighing down the fur of Latvia's costume, and his eyes caught on to the dried blood on Latvia's knee. As Germany knelt, Canada raised his shaking hands to help lift Latvia off his shoulders. Canada was in shock, and disbelieving of the fabric he touched that had a solid body underneath it.

"Latvia," he murmured. "Oh, I am so glad that you are okay…"

Despite dirt and dampness, Canada wanted so much just to hold him as though to receive confirmation that he was there and alive. Latvia seemed equally ecstatic, and he clung to Canada to receive a caring embrace and gentle caresses. All problems and hostility for Latvia from the night before were forgotten, as the others trotted over enthusiastically to swarm Latvia's new location.

Canada carried Latvia over to the blankets while the others quickly kicked off their shoes. Canada dropped to his knees and cradled Latvia to him, whispering, "Don't run away anymore. You'll be safe here. It's so good that you are back."

Latvia sniffed, "I'm so sorry…"

"No, no. Everything's alright. It's…" Canada trailed off when Latvia began to cry against him.

Latvia was now choking out, "But Russia's dead… he's dead…"

Canada quickly soothed him.

"We don't know that. He might be alive."

"R-Really?"

"Yes," Canada said. "There was nothing there. It looks like they dragged him away and there was a struggle."

Latvia started to cry harder, although no longer for the same reason. He sobbed, "I really, really hope that he is okay! It was s-so unfair what ha-happened to him…"

"I know you have a reason," Canada said. "So it's okay. Don't worry about anything."

The others started to remember last night when Germany had viciously interrogated Latvia one-to-one. Their eyes narrowed and their eyebrows scrunched together as they looked unsurely at Germany. Those assembled here were loyal to Canada, and they were now suspicious of what actions Germany would take when they knew that no result had come out of yesterday's interrogation.

Canada now looked up to Germany with concern set deep in his face. His muscles were visibly tight, although his voice was as soft as it usually was when he said, "You promised to give me full responsibility over Latvia's interrogation."

Germany replied, "I did."

"And you will not get him unless I fail?"

"I said that," Germany nodded.

"So…?"

"I would keep my word, but now I think it is unnecessary to interrogate him."

"Why's that?" Canada asked.

"I came to realize that it must be as you said," Germany replied. "There has to be a very good reason as to why Latvia cannot tell the truth. You suggested before that someone must have threatened him with hurting others, so that must be it."

"You really think so now?"

"It is what I now believe."

America blinked rapidly, then asked, "What made you change your mind?"

Germany had adjusted himself to lying. He slipped out easily, "When I saw him again, he looked so pitiful, and so terrified to see me. He thought that I was going to hurt him. He was very stressed, and he still refused to tell me when I asked him one last time. It hit me then that he wanted to tell me so much about what happened, but a very good reason was holding him back. A reason that must be good enough for him to run away to keep himself from spilling everything, and a reason that makes him willing to keep something secret despite how he knows he will get hurt by the rage of others."

"I'm very happy that you understand," Canada whispered. "I was afraid that you were going to tell me to interrogate him. He won't give us the information if the person who threatened him will hear. Latvia would not have told me the information in case it ended up being overheard or shared around the group. He would not have told you either, because someone bad would have heard it and carried out the punishment for revealing everything. Latvia would have stayed quiet, and you would have hurt him for no reason."

"I won't hurt him," Germany said. "And I will tell the others to ignore him. We have to accept what happened, and not get more hurt by following the plans of the culprit."

"Right," Canada nodded. He gave Germany a light smile that shifted the fresh bruise on his cheek, one of the many that he had obtained from the fight from hours ago.

"What?" America turned to Canada. "So you really do think that one of us is a culprit? You said before that none of us would do this, but recently you've been switching what you say. What did you decide? Have you made up your mind?"

"The culprit might be entirely supernatural," Canada said. "But unfortunately there is a chance that it really is one of us, although I don't believe it entirely. At least, I do not want to believe it. I do have to keep my mind open however, so nothing catches me by surprise."

"I am skeptical about the supernatural possibility," Germany muttered. "I know that at first, I believed nothing anybody said, but I do now. However, even if the supernatural are here and indeed active, they may be a completely, unrelated problem."

Iceland said, "If the ghosts weren't around, then the game wouldn't be so hard to beat. That Shadow needs to be-"

"No, actually," Germany cut him off. "We must be wrong about what the Shadow really is. Maybe there is a released dark thing around besides this one here, but it isn't the Shadow."

"That doesn't help at all," Iceland grumbled.

Canada asked, "How do you know that?"

Germany replied, "You all have to hear Latvia's story."

Canada was still holding Latvia, who was pressing the side of his face against his chest. Latvia relaxed, exhaled, and spoke clearly, "The Shadow is not evil. It saved me from the wolves."

He went on to outlay the story as he had to the other group. He began from when he decided to leap out the window and seek safety high up in a tree in the side yard. Everyone listened attentively as Latvia retold the events that had taken place, hardly breathing as he recounted the horrors of hearing the hunting calls then being chased through the cemetery. They grew fearful as he described what the Shadow had done; its strange behavior, and the familiar sounds that it made. Latvia did an attempt to mimic the raspy moans, and the spines of the listeners were chilled as though a breeze from the midnight cemetery had reached them.

Latvia mentioned his time in the burial vault with the skeletons, and how he had fared well in there despite the growls just outside. Latvia wrapped up his story promptly after, so that Canada could gasp and exclaim, "So that is why the Shadow was standing in front of the tomb all morning!"

Japan said, "It wanted us to see it."

Germany added, "It undoubtedly possesses intelligence that we had been unaware of until now."

Iceland put in, "Finland told us that he started seeing things when he looked into its eyes. He said it was Hell, but if Latvia says that the Shadow has also been trying to tell us something, then it might be trying to warn us."

"Nothing has ever gotten simpler since this game has started," Germany sighed. "Here is yet another thing we have to look into."

Lithuania said, "And then I am wondering too, why it was Russia the culprit wanted us to turn on. Was it just because it was easy to accomplish, or because they hold a grudge upon him?"

Iceland looked at Latvia and said, "I suppose you can't tell us that either?"

Latvia said nothing.

Lithuania continued, "You know, that would be making the sense, considering how the former Soviet states were targeted. It not only makes Russia look suspicious, but it would also be upsetting him."

America said, "So what's the next move? If they wanted to mess with Russia, then haven't they now achieved their goal? What do they do now?"

Canada gasped, "That's right! If the final goal was Russia, then is another pattern going to start up? A sort of a round two?"

"Round two?" Germany uttered. "I do not like the sound of that."

Canada murmured, "With another target, perhaps?"

"We won't fall into the same trap again," Germany growled.

Canada nodded and then turned his gaze downwards. He noticed now the mud and blood staining Latvia's costume, and as well what was smeared on his face and hands. He whispered to him, "When everyone else comes back, we'll get you showered up and we can throw your clothes in the laundry."

Latvia nodded and closed his eyes. Canada thought that he was going to have to wash his own clothes now, now that the flakes of dried mud were ground into his sweat-stained clothes.

The clock erupted with vociferous noise that boomed seven times while showing a time of 5:35. Everyone gasped at the sudden noise, but then looked up at the white face of the grandfather clock.

"That's annoying," America stated as the bongs continued.

Germany frowned at the time, taking a look outside and seeing that darkness was already falling as civil twilight was underway. He was surprised how quickly the time had passed, for he had not been aware of how much time the fight had taken up of their afternoon, or how much time the length of the treks back and forth across the cemetery that had been riddled with distractions had taken. There would be no time for his group to go out again, but the other groups had a bit more time before they would have to head back as well.

 _I wonder how Britain's group managed?_ he wondered.

* * *

Before the darkness had started to fall, Britain had hopped into the tunnel without light. He wore his gloves from his costume, except without the addition of Edward Scissorhands' blades. He was fully, and as the others thought, disturbingly comfortable with leaping down the short, dark tunnel and grabbing the skeleton at the end.

He tottered up the slope with the bundle of frail bones wrapped in tattered clothes cradled in his arms. Once he had broken into the sunlight, he saw that the skull was missing from this small body. He paused for a second as he realized this, and after that moment, a spark of humor came to life within him for a reason even he could not discern. The others in his group were confused by the grin that crossed his face as he set the skeleton on the floor of crisp leaves. They stared after him in concern as he hopped back into the tunnel, and still after he had returned with a smile still on his lips while he clutched an old skull in his hands.

"Here we are," Britain chirped, with eerie enthusiasm that upset the others near him.

The skull was complete, although it had chips of bones peeled inwards in its forehead to show where Germany had stabbed inwards. Britain hopped over to set the skull down near the protruding vertebrae of the corpse's neck. When it rolled down a dip in the earth, he did not bother to fix it. He only went on to check the small bag that he had taken along with him. He had more herbs to smoke, but also the salt shaker that he had been permitted to take from the kitchen despite their dwindling supplies.

Britain set all these things out, then looked to Austria and said, "Give me your bracelet."

Austria lifted his arm and slipped the onyx-beaded bracelet off his wrist. He dropped it into Britain's expecting hand. Britain automatically snapped it between both hands to catch the beads that glided off the wire. He took the gems shaped like pearls to the skeleton, and dropped a few into the skull while putting the others in the chest cavity.

He emptied the salt all over the skeleton. Some leaked through the bones and settled on the leaves, although Britain did not mind this. A lot of the salt stayed raised on the clothes, while little paths of white stretched out across some bones. Britain had also taken the care to pour some into the hole in the skull, before he stuffed a bundle of herbs into there as well. He took another bundle, ripped it in his hands, then sprinkled it over the body like garnish for a dish.

"This should be enough to treat it," Britain nodded as he admired his work for a moment. France tapped the hedge clipper blade nervously against his leg as he alternated between staring around the forest and back at Britain and the skeleton.

"Final touch," he smirked, before retrieving a bottle of common barbeque lighter fluid. He made sure the body was thoroughly soaked before he went back to the bag to put the lighter fluid away to fetch a box of matches.

Switzerland cried out, "Incoming!"

Far down the aisle that had trees on either side, a black form tore across the ground without disturbing a single leaf. It made no sound as it cut the air with slashing arms while it bolted forward on a beeline for them. Britain took a glance at it, then ignored it, turning his back to it as he stood up with the box of matches.

France dove to the front, standing prepared with the hedge clipper blade. The distance between him and the creature rapidly closed, but he held his ground while he grimaced. His eyes narrowed in, finding the wide ones in front of him. Promptly after locking eyes with it, he found himself utterly beguiled by the rich texture of the irises. He froze as his consciousness drifted lazily.

Austria exploded into action and snatched the hedge clipper from France's hand. The creature now just two metres away lunged, and Austria could hardly see as he whirled around with the arm holding the blade outstretched. The creature emitted its first sound when it shrieked and skittered backwards after the blade had cut its middle. Austria bared his teeth and charged as the creature stumbled to regain its composure. He gripped the handle tight in both hands and thrust the iron blade forward deep into the abdomen of the twitching, black figure.

It screamed again and tried to escape, sliding itself off the blade and tripping backwards. It lowered its head to try and corrupt the assailant's mind with its gaze, but Austria's vision was unfocused as he raced after the creature. Its red eyes were smears of light that he ignored as he cut the creature repeatedly, besieging it even after it fell and writhed on the ground. Pieces of it were parting and disappearing into the air, and Austria only wanted to see more of those tendrils float into the air to fade, thus he slashed and tore relentlessly.

Britain finally got a flame to appear on a match. He yelled something that no one understood before he dropped the match onto the body. He jumped backwards before a powerful fire engulfed the spot the skeleton lay and nearly concealed it entirely it an embrace of orange. The black creature below Austria jolted and spasmed, its screams arising into deafening screeches as the blackness peeled off it. Flakes dropped from its body to vanish into nothingness. The crimson from its eyes bled out like tears, and the red irises were bleached white.

Piece-by-piece, the creature fell apart until the screams ended and the last flakes drifted away as though taken by a spiritual wind. The body continued to burn in the background, tended by Britain, who was making sure the fire did not spread to the rest of the forest.

Austria lowered the bloodless blade to his side, his shoulders dropping as exhaustion finally hit him. He stalked over to the fire with everyone else, eyes now on the flames that licked upwards with swift flashes of bright tongues. They said nothing, but stood together and waited as long as Britain did. They looked at him occasionally, as time passed, but he paid them no attention. He stalked around the fire with the light reflecting mystically in the pupils of his emotionless face as he stomped out flames that tried to creep away.

The others helped him do this, until the sky through the foliage increasingly darkened. After the sun had dipped below the horizon, the flames died down, and Britain finished them off by dumping water from a bottle over the remaining fire. The skeleton rested there, practically undisturbed although it was no longer clothed and its colour had been stained.

France asked, "Is it okay that it is not completed burned?"

"Yes," Britain replied curtly.

"Do we have to bury it?"

"No. Leave it for the wolves to gnaw on."

He took the bag and went on ahead, expecting the others to follow him back to the mansion. They did this gladly as the trees around them grew fuzzier as the light faded rapidly. The brightest stars pricked through the navy blue sky by the time they hopped out from the forest into the field. They quickly marched through the cemetery with their heads swinging side-to-side, their fear of wolves arising as twilight came closer to its end.

They followed the dark walls of the mansion, going by every cold window to their side and purposefully trying not to look into the dark rooms, lest they find something that they wish they had not seen. As they walked by, something tapped at the glass, and France leapt away to the side with a gasp. The others hurried on ahead, and France stopped for a moment, peering into the room as he was overcome by indomitable curiosity. He pressed his forehead against the glass, but he saw nothing in the darkness. He then hurried on to catch up with the others.

It was night by the time they came inside, and they were the last to come in. They were startled to enter a scene of excitement, and at first they had believed the energy to be from a recent, adverse happening, but then they saw the smiles and heard the life in the chatter.

Britain found America.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Dude, we found Latvia!" he exclaimed.

"Where is he?" Britain immediately asked.

"Oh, he went upstairs to shower."

Britain left him to find Germany. When he soon did, he asked him, "So we have Latvia back now and alive?"

Germany replied, "We do. I found him hiding out in the tomb. His knee is injured, but otherwise he is okay."

"What are we going to do with him?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing? What do you mean?" Britain objected.

"He can't tell us the information," Germany replied. "If he does, I am sure that something bad will happen and I don't want to risk that."

"But he knows the face of the culprit! We can stop them before they have a chance to harm someone," Britain said. "Don't you agree?"

Germany asked, "You still think that the culprit is one of us?"

"Yes. I think the supernatural and the kidnappings are two separate problems."

"Well, it is confirmed that the Shadow is not the dark spirit we are looking for. It ended up saving Latvia from the wolves, to sum up his story."

Britain said, "Then we can definitely catch the person if he just tells us who did it! We can stand in the corners of the room with everyone in the center, and then Latvia can tell us who the culprit is so that we can get them before they escape."

"We should not risk that if the culprit has supernatural abilities. It might be a mistake with a hefty price."

"The only people with supernatural connections are Romania, Norway, and I, and perhaps Russia," Britain said. "And we cleared them of suspicion, unless you have found out something or you think that I am responsible."

"I never suspected you," Germany said. "And I still believe Romania, Norway, and Russia are innocent. But we don't know who might be hiding an ability."

"Right," Britain finally agreed. "Someone might have been playing us for years, and we don't really know them at all. Alright, then instead of a straight up confession, we can just watch Latvia to see if he is more nervous around certain people."

Germany knew that Latvia would be fearful around many based on the fact that in reality, Latvia did not know who had hung him and had threatened to kill and torture the missing people. Germany did not feel like he should share the information Latvia had privately told him with the others, in case the wrong person overheard him and Germany would be the one to initiate either the death of his brother, or the removal of his eyes and tongue. He instead nodded to Britain's suggestion, playing along to appear as clueless and eager for an answer as him.

"We'll do that," Germany said.

Canada, Latvia, Iceland, and Norway came down the stairs, each respectively wrapped up in towels or in Iceland's case, a robe. Their clothes were to be washed, so for the time being, they signed in and concealed themselves under blankets to beginning waiting for their clothes to be ready. Latvia was very glad to have the dirt cleaned out from his wound and his other small cuts, and to have his hair regain its pleasant, fluffy consistency. He curled up under the blankets, so comfortable to be lying on something dry and cushiony instead of having to bare with the rough, cold floor of the tomb. The blankets felt so smooth on his clean skin. He could not help but fall asleep although the eyes watching him had not looked away.

Germany's three officers came to him.

"What are we going to do about him?" Denmark asked.

Germany gave them the same rundown as he had to Britain. They understood quickly, agreeing with Germany and remaining as faithful to him as they had pledged they would be. They sat back down with Norway and Iceland without any argument, and no one else approached Germany after that. The reason became clear to Germany that the others believed in Canada's opinion, and they wanted to leave Latvia alone if it would be for the best. Now that he knew Latvia's full story, he was glad for this.

Dinner was prepared, and thus the sixth day was now coming to its close after unbridled chaos and many miraculous discoveries had occurred. Early this morning they had learned that Russia had been taken away, although his whereabouts and condition were unknown like the other missing people. Canada had found out that the game was not a scavenger hunt or hide-and-seek game, and that it was truly a game of madness devised to see how they all could be cracked. Then a fight ensued after lunch, until it was proved to Germany that Italy was possessed. They connected this occurrence to Latvia's possession from yesterday, and what Germany did to the skeleton in the tunnel. The hypothesis arose that dark spirits that had been repressed by the mansion's first owner had been released, and at least two were affecting the energy of the household spirits. Then, the dark spirit that they believed the Shadow to be turned out to be a false assumption. It had a completely different story that Germany knew that they would have to discover.

The final result of the day's efforts seemed to point to that another dark spirit was out there, but likely unconnected to the true culprit: a person among them. Germany was the only one who had Latvia's information that confirmed that a person was terrorizing them. A person that had written the note, tried to clean up Prussia's blood, studied Lord of the Flies, and gotten into the room with the confiscated items to disguise themselves and their voice to hang and threaten Latvia without him ever getting to know who they were.

 _But only Britain has the keys to that room,_ he realized suddenly.

He had just told Britain that he had never suspected him. However with just a single thought, this changed.

 _He has been acting strange lately, along with the fact that he does know dark magic. I never considered him before, because I, like many others, have known him for so long. Am I wrong about him then? He was one of the first to jump up to take a leader spot. He's been part of the inner circle the entire time, so if he is the culprit, he would have been on top of everything. He also was the forward force driving accusations against Russia, and he helped us interrogate people. Although, we never interrogated him._

He hurried over to Canada and America, who were pointedly relocated in a sleeping spot away from Britain, France, and Germany's. Germany stopped beside them, knelt down, and said, "I want to do an interrogation on Britain with the help of you two."

"What? Why?" America asked.

"I just tied some things together."

Naturally, Canada had to ask, "What did you find out?"

"I'll have to let you know later."

 _Now I can't say either_ , Germany thought. _I have to share this secret with Latvia._

The other two did not look entirely pleased about this, but the idea of being forced into silence in this mansion was not new to them. They did not press him, but instead they agreed that they would help him.

"But he'll be hard to interrogate," America reminded him. "He knows what liars do, so he'll avoid doing all that. He's also clever enough to avoid slipping things, because he knows the techniques we used the last time. It won't be as easy as it was with Russia, especially if he really is guilty and needs to hide things."

Germany considered this, thinking, _It will be hard to accuse him without saying the evidence that I have against him. I can't just shove what I know in his face. If I am wrong again, the culprit will know that I found out about the stolen, confiscated items because Latvia had shared information with me. We have to figure out a way to get Britain to admit it._

"Let's go now," Germany murmured.

Canada asked, "Where are we going to interrogate him?"

"Here," Germany replied. "In front of everyone."

He stood, and Canada and America followed suit. They carefully stepped over the pillows and blankets, then walked around where Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine, and Latvia were assembled. Each of these people looked up in surprise as they caught onto the brisk and weighted pace in the three crossing the room. It was not only them who noticed, but other heads rose to identify the sudden movement. They realized soon by their faces and composure that something serious was under development.

Britain had seen them coming long before they came close to him. He sat cross-legged, and he placed his hands on his thighs to straighten his spine. France did not look so prepared, and he blinked up at the three who towered over them with parted lips.

The words floated smoothly from Britain's mouth.

"What is it, Germany?" he asked with the stillest expression.

Germany answered, "I've reconsidered some things."

"What would those things be?" Britain replied.

By now everyone except China and Japan in the kitchen was dead silent and intently listening. They were hooked on every word that came from Britain and Germany's mouths, trying to figure out what was happening. Just hours ago, these two had been on the same side, agreeing on the same things and working together against Canada. Now, Germany stood with Canada, and these two held steady eyes along with America on Britain's form.

Germany replied, "I thought about who would be capable of doing all these crimes. We checked into Romania, but then we never truly investigated you yet. It has come to my attention that I have been being biased, and have not interrogated those who I trust."

"I understand that reason," Britain said. "If that really was your reason. However, because you decided to begin with me, I am skeptical. Your faces as well confirm to me that you suspect me of something. What else could it be but that you have found reason to believe that I am the culprit?"

"It is likely that it is you," Germany did not bother denying this. "After all, you hold a power that most of us do not, while you have been doing things that could point to you setting the game in motion."

Britain's face twitched before he asked as calmly as usual, "For example?"

"You stacked up a lot of evidence against Russia. If it were not for this, he would not have been so distrusted."

"So is trying to help find evidence to solve this mystery a bad thing now? I am an Investigator you know, according to Russia himself. What I did was no different than what you are doing to me now."

"Russia was a target since the beginning. You helped speed up the process in which we would turn on him. You however, have never been suspected until now. And instead of riling people with past examples, I am using present actions you have taken that are suspicious. Anyone has the right to interrogate someone else if they have the evidence to support their misgivings. You are correct when you say that you were doing what you should have, but however, because it was Russia, special attention needs to be given."

"But what if I am the next target of the game?" Britain asked. "What if you are doing what I did to Russia, and getting people to turn against me?"

"I am not trying to get people to turn against you. I only want answers."

"That's what I wanted from Russia too," Britain replied simply.

Germany was growing quite frustrated at this point. He hated the roundabout way Britain had in answering his questions to always direct back to Germany. They were going nowhere, and Germany felt that Britain was steering the conversation more than he was. Germany focused for a moment on remaining calm, telling himself that if he appeared emotional, then Britain would appear more rational than him and receive more support.

"I do not believe either that the Shadow is so powerful," Germany said. "It cannot be a demon, a malevolent spirit, if it saved Latvia. So is there any chance you let it out of the circle on purpose?"

"On purpose? Don't be absurd. Why do you think I would do such a thing?"

"You did not answer the question."

"Of course I did not let such a thing out on purpose!"

America furrowed his eyebrows and said, "You know, Germany, I think for this case it really was an accident. Maybe someone drew something wrong, and then it got out because the circle was broken…?"

"That is likely all that happened," Britain affirmed. "A mere mistake. But there is no doubting that the Shadow has violent, intense emotions if its touch does harm."

Latvia spoke up, "I didn't get burned when it touched me!"

"You were wearing a gem that has peaceful, calming properties," Britain replied. "It must have protected you."

"Continuing on," Germany muttered. "I want to talk about your connection to the supernatural."

Germany waited for Britain to say something, but he did not for a few seconds. Britain lifted his shoulders, closed his eyes, and said, "What is there to say?"

"How do you compare to Romania?"

"Compare? I never thought about it as a contest. We do not know the extent of each other's abilities."

Germany restrained himself from clenching his fists in frustration. He was getting absolutely no information out of Britain. In addition to this, Germany was sure that Britain was doing this on purpose, given how placidly he blinked, so slowly, as though he had all the possible time in the world.

Germany watched Britain very closely, but tried not to peer so that Britain would know how he was scanning him like they had scanned Russia before. His attention was broken for a moment, when China popped out from the kitchen with two plates of food in each hand while he said, "The food is ready! Ah… What is going on in here?"

Japan came up beside him with two more filled plates, and he was as well confused by the tense atmosphere in the room.

America replied, "It's an interrogation, dude."

Japan and China came in to hand out the plates. Japan stopped by and gave plates to France and Britain. He asked America, "Of who?"

"Britain."

Japan looked back down at Britain in surprise, who only stared forward, ignoring both him and the food as he looked at Germany.

"Britain?" Japan gasped. "But what did he do?"

America said, "I don't know yet, but Germany has some ideas."

Germany huffed mentally, _That's not helping me at all, America._

Japan and China continued handing out the meals, and a few people peeled away to fetch glasses of water before returning as soon as they could. While this happened, Germany decided to carry on. He then asked Britain, "You wouldn't happen to be able to teleport, would you?"

"Teleport? I've never tried something of the sort, but I suppose if I got my hands on a good grimoire, I could practice. Of course I would need a lot of materials for it."

Britain had conducted himself so normally while replying. Germany found the dread rising within him as he struggled to figure out whether Britain was speaking true and simply, or if he was the best liar he had ever encountered. Germany knew that if someone was the culprit, their personality was not what everyone had believed it to be. He did not think Britain was a slick liar, but as the days went by, Germany was realizing more and more that he could be wrong about any one of the others.

 _All I know is that it is not me_ , Germany groaned internally. _It is impossible to know what is in the head of another person!_

Germany pressed, "Are you sure?"

Britain scoffed, "Now you're just being ridiculous. You think I am just teleporting around the property with the snap of my fingers? Do you have any idea of how magic works? You clearly do not, if you think this is how the people are disappearing."

Germany countered, "Then do you have any idea how everyone keeps disappearing into thin air?"

"I don't," Britain sighed. "I only know as much as you do, which is nothing."

Canada turned his head and looked across the room, "Romania, do you know of any magic that could explain the disappearances?"

"Teleportation sounds like a reason," Romania said. "But none of us can do it. I've never heard of ghosts being able to teleport people either. I mean, ghosts are energy beings, so they can do what they want, but people are physical and it would take a lot more. We would need to set up things and practice in order to do that."

Germany was not satisfied that Romania's response turned out to help Britain's cause. In fact, taking away the possibility of teleportation left him with no more ideas as to how people vanished so often so quickly.

He remembered something suddenly. Germany asked Austria, "You said you saw shadow hands grab Hungary."

Austria swallowed, then replied, "They were black, and they came from the shadows behind the wine tanks."

Canada asked, "Were the hands misty?"

Austria replied, "It's harder to remember now, but I think they were solid black."

Canada looked to Germany and said, "What if it wasn't a ghost at all, but someone wearing gloves?"

Germany thought, _The person who attacked Latvia wore black. He never mentioned black gloves, but the culprit might have been wearing them._

He pretended to stare off while in thought, but he was really trying to find Latvia in the crowd with unfocused eyes. Germany spotted him in the corner, holding his hands together and pressing his arms close to his side timorously. Germany gazed away so that he was in his peripheral vision, but he saw the slightest nod given to him that was so minuscule that it could have been mistaken by the others as a twitch or chill.

 _Black gloves then,_ Germany thought. _Hungary was not taken by a ghost at all. But where did she go? Was it that she was kept silent and in the basement the entire time while Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein panicked and ran out? But could the culprit be strong enough to hold Hungary down and keep her quiet? That doesn't seem plausible either. She must have been moved somewhere before she could fight back. Or perhaps she was drugged?_

Germany said, "I feel as though it is worth mentioning that you are wearing black gloves, Britain."

"Other people took black gloves to the party," Britain said. "They may have merely hidden them like they did with the small, missing knife. In fact, wasn't Prussia wearing black gloves?"

Germany felt anger jolt within him. Before he could contain himself, he snapped, "No, he was not wearing any gloves at all!"

Britain said quietly, "Apologies, then. I am mistaken."

Germany's lips tightened. Britain had succeeded in making himself look more composed than Germany in front of the others; something that seemed to occur often to him. It only made him more infuriated to have people taking advantage of his stress and frustration.

Britain broke the pause in the so far unsuccessful interrogation. He said, "So Germany, I was wondering. Do you have any real proof against me, or just accusations?"

Germany paused. He knew that his answer was going to have to be worded carefully, so that Britain could not pick apart the response and prove in front of everyone that Latvia had given Germany information. It was crucial for Prussia and the other three or four missing people that he not fail now.

Japan nervously set the final plate of food beside Germany's feet. He was not sure what mood Germany was in while he was standing there silently. He backed away to give him space, trying not to be a port to exert his frustration on if that happened to be what was overwhelming Germany.

"It is hard to prove anything," Germany replied. "Because I have not seen the culprit at work in front of me. Everyone seems to be accountable at some point when a person disappeared. You were present every time something occurred, although perhaps not when Belarus and Estonia were taken, as we could not see. But this is the same for others, so perhaps you could be working with someone, using teleportation, and or having ghosts bend to your will."

"So you admit that you have no proof."

"Do you confirm or deny these things?" Germany pressed.

"Of course I deny it all! You are just going to great lengths now to accuse me because-"

The lights flickered once. Before anyone could look up to the chandelier, the power snapped off. The panic began, although Germany's boom drowned out everything, " _Everyone stand in the middle of the circle! Hold on to each other!_ "

Shuffling was heard as people stumbled over blankets and pillows, racing to find others to cling to. Germany felt Canada hold onto him, while Canada felt America's hand gripping his upper arm.

"Britain, are you there?" Germany barked.

"Yes."

"Come here."

Movement was heard, coming closer to Germany. A hand that reached out in the darkness touched his stomach. Britain held his shirt and said, "Satisfied? I am here, and France is here too if you were wondering."

Germany turned his head to look into the darkness, although he could not make out the people shapes in the blackness. He called out, "I want a roll call now! Is everyone holding onto someone? Italy?"

"Yeah! I have my brother and Spain!"

"Portugal?" Germany called.

"Yeah, here with Spain and Austria."

The list went on. Austria had Kugelmugel, which led to a chain of all the young nations connected to the Nordics. The Baltics, Poland, Ukraine, Bulgaria, and Romania had linked up, then Seychelles, the Asian countries had found each other, Switzerland and Liechtenstein were together, and then the rest were here with Germany.

Germany yelled, "Does that account for everyone?"

"That's everyone," Canada replied.

"Alright," Germany said. "I'm going to turn on the power. Without letting go of each other, can someone get me a hedge clipper blade?"

Denmark replied, "On it!"

Germany then said, "My group, come with me to the table. I need to get the flashlight."

They all shuffled towards the table that they had already been close to. Germany reached his hand out of the salt circle, and he grazed his hand over the tablecloth. He found the papers of the logbook, then his fingers rolled over a pencil. His hand swept around, but he was having trouble locating the flashlight that he was sure he had put just to the left of the book.

Britain asked, "Can you find it?"

"It's around here somewhere," Germany replied.

Britain reached out and started searching by touch with him. Their hands bumped once, but other than that, they still found nothing.

Germany's heart started to pump. He exhaled brokenly while he thought, _Where did it go? It was right here!_

The others were starting to catch onto the situation. Their worried voices arose in the darkness.

" _Can't you find the flashlight?_ "

" _Oh no, you didn't lose it, did you?"_

" _Please, just get the light on already! This is too much!_ "

" _Find it! Please, hurry!_ "

Sealand whimpered, "It's cold. Is it just me?"

Many others began crying out together.

" _Oh my god, it is cold_!"

" _The temperature is dropping…_ "

" _I'm getting goosebumps!_ "

Germany snapped his hand back into the circle and backed away from the salt line with his group. He called out, "Everyone, stay calm! We are safe as long as we are in the circle and holding each other. None of the ghosts can get us, and the culprit cannot take anyone when we are like this!"

Canada exclaimed, "I know we are safe! The circle protected us from a ghost this afternoon! Don't worry about the cold! Everyone should just settle down together and bundle up. We're going to have to hang tight until the morning."

Nobody emitted a complaint. Denmark passed the blade to Germany before he did like the others, and sat down as Canada had recommended. All of them settled in to press close to each other, sharing blankets even with those they had fought against many hours ago. If the nights falling asleep in the haunted mansion had been hard enough with the light on, then the fear they felt now was unlike anything they had felt before in all of the previous nights. It could almost be compared to the panic they had felt when the power had gone off and the Shadow had been summoned into the mansion. They felt the same helplessness to not be able to see the danger that might be lurking close by.

They had a safe spot now, but here they felt so trapped and surrounded. Their imagination could now run wild, and imagine a mass of shadows gathering around the circle to look in on them all. They whimpered, trembled, cried silently, and naturally clung to those they cared about as hope was drawing thin for this night. Even Romano did not protest when his brother hugged him tightly as they lay under the blankets. He only stared up at a ceiling he could not see. Seychelles and Vietnam held each other as well, despite how they hardly knew each other and had only spent the past six days interacting.

Such emotion welled up within all of them, to the point that they did not pause to think that the person they might be holding and crying against could be a culprit. Once the light had been snatched from them, it was all they could do to seek human comfort to survive the situation together. Latvia was safe and curled up under Lithuania's arm, using his bicep as a pillow. Latvia twitched more than Poland, who was rather docile but obviously stressed as he desperately hugged Lithuania.

The Nordics were meanwhile in such close positions, clinging and hugging each other with blankets thrown over them as though they were additional shields. Finland tucked himself up against the closest body to him, realizing after a second that it was Sweden. He did not feel compelled to move, and when an arm wrapped around him and softly held him close, Finland only whimpered in his throat from fear as he imagined what lay outside the circle before he turned onto his side to throw his arm around the other and squeeze. Finland trembled as his eyes watered. It took him a minute to pull out from his shock, once he had finally became aware that his back was being rubbed.

A deep whisper told Finland, "Don't be scared."

His shivering subsided the longer he was comforted, although he discovered soon enough that Sweden had been quivering the entire time as well.

Germany's voice came forth once again, "We will be fine, everyone. Be strong together!"

They only clung tighter, whimpered more, and cried more tears. Like chains, they were linked so that they would not fall apart. Despite the fear however, they were ready to face the night. The desire to survive through the darkness with those close to them pumped strong through their hearts.

Then the world changed and shocked everyone into a temporarily state of confusion. The lights all flicked back on, as though it had not have been simpler. Everyone blinked and sat up, looking around at all the tear-stained faces that they could now see. They checked around the circle, where absolutely nothing surrounded them.

Canada blinked rapidly as his eyes adjusted to the sudden shift in luminosity. Once he could see, he regarded the people before him, asking, "Everyone is alright?"

It turned out to be so. Everyone was here. The relief however, was not permitted to last long. Romania's eyes widened, and he pointed past Canada, gasping, "What's that on the table?"

Germany and those close to him turned around. Germany's eyes caught sight of the flashlight hanging out nonchalantly in the middle of the staircase, before his eyes refocused to catch the object that lay closest to him.

He stood and walked to the table to pick up the folded piece of paper that had been standing up to face the crowd. As it had been with the first note left to them to announce the beginning of the game, he opened it to find writing inside. No blood decorated this note, however he was doubtful if he should be thankful for this yet. He needed to read the message first to decide, and so he did this aloud for all to hear.

" _I warned you not to say anything. Now, they must suffer the consequences, unless you all can save these four prisoners before tomorrow night_."

Latvia collapsed into a weeping ball as Germany swallowed then read the last words on the page.

" _Good luck._ "


	13. The Pursuit of Nightmares

_Jack leapt on to the sand._

 _"Do our dance! Come on! Dance!"_

* * *

Latvia was heard sobbing in the corner, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!"

Britain asked, "So he did tell someone something he was not supposed to?"

Germany's hand shook. The paper slipped from his fingers and floated away as it had the first time he had read aloud a note from the culprit. It settled on top of a pillow to be forgotten as the panic arose.

Germany choked, "He told me but… there's no way we could have been heard!"

Canada thought, _So that's why you changed your mind so fast then._

"In that case," Britain continued. "You might as well reveal everything now."

"The culprit is a person," Germany forced through his clenching throat. "They disguised themselves with items from the locked room full of confiscated items. They wore a black cloak, gloves, America's _Scream_ mask, and they used his voice changer. The culprit hung Latvia and told him that if he did not say that Russia was the culprit, there would be punishment. The same if Latvia said he was threatened."

France whimpered, "And what punishment is going to happen if we do not save everyone before tomorrow night?"

Germany uttered, "Two will die, and the other two will lose their tongues and eyes."

The gasps that followed were sharp and jolted their lungs.

"No way," Lithuania cried. "One day? That's all we have left?"

"One day," Germany repeated in a whisper.

"Oh no…" France grabbed his face. "We've gotten nowhere in the last week. How will we ever accomplish it?"

"Search or interrogations?" America threw out. "What do we do? None of these strategies have been working!"

Germany snarled, "Either we find the location, or the culprit right now!"

The dangerous ferocity flamed in Germany once more, and the others were struck with fear once they saw the wolfish bloodlust in his gaze again. He had been calm and like the Germany they were used to for a few hours, but now they were shown in full detail that the vengeful predator was still within him. They stayed quiet to avoid attracting his attention to them.

Canada grew worried as the uncontrollable rage snuck back into Germany. He said, "We better not search tonight, in case the power goes off and we are picked off in the dark. The wolves are likely to be outside right now, so we can't risk going out either."

"We have to do something!" Germany's fingers hooked and stabbed into the sides of his head. "We don't have time to waste!"

"Then what do we do?" Japan asked.

The stress overwhelmed Germany to the point that his body was twisting as he held his head tighter as though ideas could be snared in this way. Tears pricked his eyes and his throat ached. So many people were looking to him for solutions, but his mind was so blank, only white like the light from the chandelier that he looked up to.

"I don't know!" Germany cried. "I don't know what we can do!"

Canada yelled out, "Ideas- anyone! Don't rely on us anymore!"

Moans returned to them as the others writhed as Germany had, fidgeting as though something within them was fighting to escape their bodies and the situation.

Romania said, "There's got to be places in the mansion that we haven't searched thoroughly! The culprit is more likely to be hiding them inside, if it took them ten minutes to conceal Prussia then leave the first note!"

"Where then?" Germany snapped. "Everyone was supposed to search every bit of this place! We finished it off in the first few days before we started to explore the forest!"

The others went stalk-still, frantically racking their brains to make sure that they had not been the one to have missed searching a place. They rushed their brains to the point that memories warped and they were no longer sure upon what actions they had taken during the indoor search effort. They wondered if there had been a room or even a closet that they had missed somewhere, and had been one that contained a secret staircase or something in this aspect.

Switzerland blinked down at the floor, before he lifted his head with a gasp. The light shone in his gaze as he directed his gaze forward towards Germany. His mouth opened wide and he exclaimed with ecstatic energy, "Hold on, we never finished exploring the cellar!"

"That's right!" Austria gasped. "We ran out before that!"

Germany burst off the floor, clearing the table, and landed with his feet stamping firmly on the ground. He leapt up the stairs until he reached the step in the near middle where the flashlight rested vertically. Germany's hand shot out and swept it into his grasp.

"You're going down there?" Canada asked.

"Of course," he muttered.

"You can't go alone. Let me come with you."

Germany nodded. Canada hurried to retrieve the other hedge clipper blade, and he and Germany sprinted from the circle's safety together. The others inclined after them, thoroughly worried and desiring something useful to do.

Denmark twitched and asked aloud for anyone to answer, "What do we do?"

France replied, "There's nothing we really can do just now. We have to wait."

"Canada's right," Japan said. "If we all go out now during the night and the power goes off, we are all in danger."

Denmark protested, "You think we can just hang out here until morning, sleeping?"

"All of our efforts will have to be made tomorrow," Japan said.

"That gives us no time!" Denmark threw the blankets off himself and sprang to his feet.

Japan stressed, "But there is nothing we can do."

"I can't stay here and do nothing!" he cried. "We know that a person is hurting people! They attacked Norway, and I want to find out who's responsible!"

Germany and Canada could hear Denmark's voice rising in the other room. Canada looked over his shoulder with concern, but his legs only moved forward after Germany. The handle to the door was grabbed, then the door creaked open so that they faced a solid wall of darkness. Germany stabbed the hedge clipper blade into the darkness before he reached his arm in to find the light switch.

Something light grazed over his hand concealed in the blackness, and he jolted. The spider skittered up his arm on fast legs, and Germany shook his arm until it dropped off. He found the light switch, and directly after the dim light bulb flickered on, he could see a shadow figure right in front of him, gliding up the last three steps towards him.

His quick reflexes had the ghost stabbed through the chest with the iron. At the touch, it vanished entirely.

"I hope that was the only one," Germany muttered as he trotted down the steps. "And that it stays gone long enough for us to explore down here."

A wide rectangle cutting across the room was illuminated. Here, they could walk and be able to see their surroundings. However, Germany did not take this lighted path, and he took a sharp turn to the left instead to lead his partner into the murk between a wine tank and the wall. The bright light flickered as it was pointed at the floor. It then rose to touch the walls and go over the length of the wine tank. They found nothing here but bare stone and wood.

Canada could not see into the blackness behind them unless Germany turned around. Occasionally he did, and they both were ready to tackle a creeping enemy, but they were able to meander around the wine tanks without a problem while investigating the entire left side of the room. They found the two coolers Romania had mentioned, tucked in the corner and humming more quietly than the heater. Canada cracked them open, found them to be empty, then followed Germany back towards the light in the middle of the cellar.

They had not yet spoken a word to each other. They were fully concentrated on the search, straining their eyes and making themselves powerfully aware of their surroundings. They went past the fuse box as they swept around to the right side, which seemed untouched as its case was closed up. They started weaving through the wine tanks again, this time on their way back towards the open door to the kitchen.

They found the two flashlights left on the floor, dead, and freezing to the touch when picked up. They had found the spot where Hungary disappeared. Germany and Canada advanced, and in a moment, the light lowered to hover over a pair of broken glasses. Germany stepped forward and hooked them with his middle finger, raising them, then taking a peek through the now lensless holes.

He pocketed them then waved the flashlight to the left. For a moment, the flashlight died and they were surrounded in a thick cocoon of darkness. When it returned, Germany immediately checked their backs, but it turned out that nothing had crept up on them during the brief second of vulnerability.

He looked back to the left, and upon the floor something gleamed silver back at the flashlight. He bent over and picked it up between two fingers. Canada stood beside him, and Germany raised it for them both to examine. The coin he held was plain and devoid of complex design. The side facing them showed a simple: 50 BANI. He turned it, and what stood out clearly for them was: ROMANIA, at the top, with the year 2005 stamped at the bottom.

Canada murmured, "Do you think the culprit dropped it by accident, or that it was planted there?"

"Both answers bring us closer," Germany muttered as he slid the coin into the same pocket as the glasses. "Because then we have to wonder why someone would want us to blame Romania."

Canada concluded, "Or who would be carrying Romanian currency on them."

They carried on with the search, but found nothing else other than the coin. They headed back up the stairs, turned off the light, and closed the door behind them. Those in the circle had stopped arguing after Japan and a few others that supported Canada had calmed them. They were quiet and anxious, but once they saw Germany and Canada returning unharmed, their spirits were lifted.

They stepped into the ring of safety. Germany dug into his pocket, and his thumb and index finger clenched the coin between them as he lifted it upwards. Most could not see what he held well, but they knew that it was a coin. They did not have to pose any questions, for soon Germany was explaining it.

"We found only this coin down in the basement," he said. "A piece of Romanian currency. What this means is either the culprit is related to this country, or is trying to have us blame Romania. If that is the case, then the original target list still is applicable, and so the culprit undoubtedly holds a grudge against the Soviet Union."

Britain narrowed his eyes as he scanned the surface of the coin. He said, "I don't think this was planted. The culprit wouldn't think that we would jump on something as simple as this. Everything they set up for us is so much more complex. They know that we wouldn't fall for this even if they left it for us to find."

Austria said, "They might have dropped it while grabbing Hungary."

France asked, "So then who would be carrying Romanian coins on them?"

"Well," America said. "Romania, or anyone else who comes here often enough where they would need the money to buy stuff."

"Moldova and Bulgaria are close to him," Britain remarked.

"Moldova?" Romania gasped. "Okay- it's one thing to bring me into this, but Moldova? You really think he is the evil mastermind?"

Eyes glazed over the innocently-dressed Moldova with his reused, homemade ghost costume. Their eyes flashed away swiftly as they mentally labelled him as nonthreatening.

"I suppose it wasn't him," Britain admitted. "But that doesn't mean Bulgaria is clear."

"This is ridiculous!" Bulgaria argued. "I was beside Romania the entire time at the front on that first night! You guys all saw me!"

Romania vouched for him, "There's no way he could have taken Prussia. He was with me and Moldova the entire time, waiting like the rest of you for the groups for the scavenger hunt to come back."

"True," Germany muttered, then looked back to Britain to ask, "Are you sure that the culprit didn't set this up, devaluing our intelligence?"

"This is too simple," Canada agreed. "The last set up against Russia required way more planning. They never just planted a Russian ruble for us to find. We probably wouldn't have fallen for that. No, the culprit took advantage of our suspicions on Russia, using Latvia to say the words we all wanted to hear. They disguised themselves, threatened him, closed the door so that we would find him, then had his body taken away. Not only this, but they supplied us with the weapons beforehand to make it all possible. So, if they wanted Romania to go next, then they have done something bigger."

America asked, "You think that the culprit controls the wolves too?"

Ukraine said, "This person must be able to! How else would they have appeared in daylight at that exact spot? Someone commanded them there!"

"With supernatural powers?" China asked. "If the wolves really are all possessed?"

Germany said, "That still sounds ridiculous. Possessed wolves…"

Someone stood up for all to see. Germany glanced over as the other leaders did, towards Finland.

"I have an idea of what we can do to win," Finland said. "We have to face our fears and meet the Shadow."

"You think it can show us where they are?" Canada asked.

"I don't think so," Finland replied. "But it knows something about the wolves that we do not. The one time it grabbed me and looked into my eyes, it started to show me things. Now, I only see more and more whenever I look into its eyes again. The second time the visions were of someone being chased through the forest by the wolves at sunset. Latvia said it hates them, so I think what it was trying to show me was why it hates them."

Canada clenched a fist and threw out, "Then we can find it tomorrow! It is never hard to find, so we'll manage it. We'll let it show someone the vision, and we can have Romania translate whatever it keeps trying to say!"

Germany tucked the coin away now that a more workable plan was being devised. They could not pinpoint the suspect with just this piece of evidence, but perhaps finding out the secret of the property's powerful spirit could lead them somewhere.

"We'll do that," Germany agreed. "This is the best plan we have."

"But we aren't going out now," Canada looked over at him carefully.

Germany lifted his eyes and stared at the blackness visible from out the windows. In the depth of his mind, a memory was illuminated. He saw Russia once again, sitting on the chair, small as he bent over and squeezed his arms to his sides while he said, " _There were eyes everywhere_."

Germany remembered asking him, " _Do you think that they were wolves?_ "

Russia had nodded to this, still looking down at his knees.

" _How many?_ " Germany had asked him.

Russia had answered, " _A lot, I am thinking… more than twenty_."

After considering the information he had been given, Germany thought, _Canada is right. We can't go outside. There are many wolves out there, wandering the yard and looking for prey._

Germany also considered another one of Canada's opinions. It had become easier for him to calculate now that Finland had laid down a dependable plan that could truly lead them somewhere for the first time in a week. His conclusion was attained, so he spoke eloquently for the benefit of all of the others, "We will sleep tonight and get all the rest we need in order to think clearly and have the energy for tomorrow. There's nothing we can do for now, for it is too dangerous without daylight."

The panic waned. Germany could see Canada nodding as his stiff posture relaxed. There was a look of contentedness on his face, and it seemed to Germany that for what was perhaps the first time this week, Canada venerated his leadership. The others seemed to as well, for this time they were not revolting against him for the usual stressful minute or more.

Small groups braved going up the stairs to the bathroom one after the other, passing the weapon to the next group that would go up. In this way everyone had done all that they usually would before settling down, but even when they had curled up, sleep just could not carry them away with waves of somber dreams. The lights shining over them did not take away the plight of darkness overtaking the property that had arrived in the form of the most recent note.

They stilled themselves, but their hearts beat on inside, out of view. They knew that no other person had fallen asleep, yet they remained quiet to listen to the creaks of the mansion, the sliding of objects every hour, and the wind that had started to pick up. They were all awake when they heard the footsteps in the kitchen. Eyes peeked open, and ears listened attentively to the sound of heavy boots stomping on the hardwood as they departed the kitchen and headed towards the circle.

Near the salt, the footsteps stopped. When silence followed, they closed their eyes again and continued trying to dive into the blackness behind their eyelids. This did not seem to be the method, and so they wondered how sleep had come so easily to them before, when they could no longer remember how to do it at this moment. After another half an hour had passed, they heard the footsteps move away. They jolted and flashed their eyes back open, thoroughly surprised for they had believed the owner of those feet had disappeared. Instead, they learned that it had never left. During the period of silence, it had stayed in a single spot and watched them for that half hour.

The clock went off at 12:11, banging four times. Later, at the time of 12:43, it claimed that it was eleven o'clock. Ever since the grandfather clock along with all the other clocks in the mansion had been broken, the irregular intervals of them starting up randomly was often. At this time however, the stress was increasing in those curled up on the floor desperately trying to fall asleep. Just over every half hour, the clock startled them whenever it suddenly interrupted the wind.

Not many had taken much mind to it for they believed that their inability to sleep was not the fault of the clock. However, the chiming at 12:43 caused someone to explode to their feet. Denmark stomped out of the circle on a direct path to the grandfather clock. His hands slid over the smooth, curving wood on both sides, then squeezed inwards once they had found a good grip. He then stepped back while throwing the clock downwards. A massive boom followed as the heavy grandfather clock smashed against the hardwood, causing itself and the floor to crack. The ticks stopped instantly, and the finals echoes of the impact floated out of existence.

All had shot up into sitting positions to stare at Denmark in shock. Romania did not appear upset that his property had just been destroyed, but appeared only surprised that Denmark had reacted so violently. Denmark turned around and faced the others with a face that was already darkened by rings and that held glaring, red-veined eyes. He had no desire to speak, and he instead just started walking back to his sleeping area.

Norway however, muttered to him, "You could have just turned it off, idiot."

Denmark flopped down on his chest onto the blankets beside Norway. His body went limp from physical exhaustion, although his eyes remained wide open as he stared forward at nothing. He replied as he dragged his pillow close to him to hug, "Whatever."

Romano's response broke the silence of the others. He threw out, "You are so stupid! We needed that clock to keep track of the time!"

"Just look outside," Denmark grumbled. "When you see light, that means it's daytime. When you see that it is dark, that means it's still night or we missed our deadline."

Canada could not hold back his exclamation, "If it was bugging you so much, you only needed to tell us! We could have turned off the chimes!"

"He's right," Germany stressed.

Denmark was more likely to believe Germany. He sighed, but did not appear any less irritated. He muttered, "Yeah, yeah. Sorry. I'm so tired and stressed I guess…"

"We all are," Canada said. "But we have to control ourselves!"

"Said I was sorry," Denmark murmured as he dropped his eyes closed.

Denmark at least realized that the situation would not fare well in his favor if he admitted that pushing the clock had given him a feeling of satisfaction. In order to be left alone, he at least had enough energy to realize that if he apologized, the peace he wanted would be achieved. For this moment, nothing made him feel inclined in the slightest to regret his actions.

Canada wanted to pursue the topic and lecture him, but he knew that after Denmark's final statement, he and some others would only think that it would be redundant of Canada to go on. He also did not want to waste anymore time when they were all trying to get whatever sleep that they could. He lay back down beside America, relaxed his muscles, and closed his eyes.

The wind picked up until it shrieked through the trees, causing branches to panic and throw themselves backwards. Occasionally snaps were heard as the strain became too great for them, and they splintered or dropped to the ground. The sounds only served as a sort of song to those inside. The constant noise of the windstorm overpowered the creaks, footsteps, and other thumps in the mansion. It pulled their attention away from those nerve-racking sounds, until even their thoughts deviated from the usual ones of disquietude.

Once the only thing that they were aware of was the wind, they finally succeeded into plunging into the darkness. They felt their bodies sinking as their consciousness faded, and their skin went numb as the air grew colder. The wind allowed them to forget everything, and so despite the chill, they only fell one-by-one into the freezing waters of sleep, where they progressively sank further away from the light hovering at the surface.

* * *

A ceiling of clouds overtook the sky once again, concealing the seventh sunrise from sight. The world outside remained quite dark as only a dim light washed over all the surfaces, and waking would have been difficult if the crows had not started their usual raucous chorus.

All were startled awake, having not expected at all that they could have fallen asleep. They immediately looked to the clock to see how much time had passed, but they found it face-down on the floor. It was then that the memory from the night returned to them.

The time was desperately desired, and so Germany ran from the room to find the nearest clock. He began to panic as he stared at a clock face that showed 11:30, but then the knowledge returned to him that all of the clocks had been changed. The one in the main room had been mostly reliable, but now without it, Germany thought for a stressful moment that there was no way for them to know the time.

He then realized that perhaps they could check somebody's cellphone, but after a week had passed, he wondered if any of them would still have battery. Once he returned to the room where everyone was briskly getting ready, and cooking breakfast, he went to Britain.

Germany said, "Take me to the room where everything is."

Britain understood immediately. They departed together down the hall until they stopped before the recognizable door. Here, Britain dug into his pocket and retrieved the ring of keys. Germany watched him as he sorted through them, trying to find the one he remembered to correspond to this lock. He eventually singled out a key and used his thumb to point it upwards. It did not glimmer at all under the light. The bland, golden key was shoved into the lock, turned, and then yanked out as the door was shoved inwards.

Everything had been dumped upon a bare bed. Some cell phones and car keys were lined up in a row, while others remained in handbags. Pieces of costumes were in a disorganized pile, including outer clothing, gloves, fake claws, headbands, and Germany could even see the golden wings that he had worn before during the party. The plastic skeleton that had laid on the steps behind the front table had been tossed in here as well, lying neglected and twisted on the floor. It appeared too offensively white and solid to Germany and Britain after they had already encountered the real skeleton in the forest.

"Look at that," Britain remarked. "All the masks are missing."

Germany's eyes confirmed this to him. The masks that he could remember for that moment - Estonia's, America's, and Belarus's - were no longer present in the pile.

"Someone did break in here," Germany muttered. "But you did not put that note on the table. Unless you are working with someone…"

"Like who? France, America, or Canada?" Britain scoffed. "The only people close to me, you trust. You also know they were all with us when the power went out. And even if you think I am in on this with Romania, well, you know that he was with a bunch of other people as well. I think the problem is narrowed down to two possibilities."

"What then?" Germany demanded.

"Either two people who vouched for each other went out of the circle to plant the note and move the flashlight, or the culprit is none of us."

"What do you mean, none of us?"

"I don't mean supernatural at all," Britain replied. "I mean to say, what if there has been another person in this house the entire time and we never noticed? And what if this person has been playing with us all this time too, just making us believe that the culprit was one of our own or something supernatural, so that we would never suspect something else otherwise?"

"A person who sneaked into the mansion?" Germany breathed. "But how could we not have noticed?"

Britain said, "I assume they moved mostly at night. This person must be responsible for the missing knife and food, and exchanging the cupcakes for the note in the beginning of the game. While we were all distracted with the scavenger hunt."

Germany was pressing the power buttons on the individual cell phones. Most buzzed and showed the logo of the phone's company, but then went back to black directly after. None in the line worked, so Germany went and dug through the bags, hoping to find other phones.

Germany asked, "So if there is another person here, where have they been resting? Surely they could not be staying in one of the bedrooms? They would have been targeted by the resident ghosts."

"I wonder that too," Britain said. "It's one of the many flaws in my hypothesis. Another is that we still don't know how they take people away so fast. It still seems like magic when they are disappearing into thin air."

"The power outages make more sense now if your hypothesis is correct," Germany said. "It would mean then that someone is in the basement every time, manually flipping off the switch."

"But then they would have to find the door to the kitchen, open it quietly, sneak through the kitchen, find one of us, take them, and hide them somewhere. That still requires a lot of time. Also, that would mean that they would have had to get into the basement in the first place. How could they have done that if we always have a group here in the main room? They would have seen anyone walk by and then go into the kitchen."

"So then they never heard what Latvia said to me," Germany said. "They didn't need to. Not when I made the mistake of accusing you. That was a dead give away that I knew someone had stolen something from this room."

"It seems to be that way," Britain nodded.

Germany _hmm_ ed. He preferred this hypothesis drastically to the supernatural one, or that someone in their group was responsible. He had started growing on Canada's idea that none of them were guilty. It was so much easier for him to accept that they were all innocent and that none of them had been concealing a cold and calculating psychopathic personality for centuries. When he looked at every face, even when they had those animalistic gazes brought upon by hunger, fear, or desperation, he still wanted to think that they were the same people he had come to know, even if the stress was changing them temporarily. Even if they had all fought each other yesterday, Germany still wanted to believe that they were all just as afraid as he was.

Germany unzipped a bag to find the most desirable items. He retrieved a phone enclosed in hot pink, then pulled out the white cord of a phone charger.

"Convenient," he sighed.

Britain paced around the room. Germany watched him, but needed not to ask what he was doing for he explained on his own, "I wonder how the person got in here?"

He went to the window and pulled at the bottom. It did not slide up, and a quick glaze affirmed that the reason was that it was locked.

"You'd think that either the door or the window would have to be left unlocked," Britain mused. "For there is no way they could have left the room and have the door or window locked from the inside."

"It would only seem as though…" Germany inhaled. "That the culprit would have to still be in this room!"

Germany threw himself to his stomach and checked under the bed. His eyes scanned over the lonely dust bunnies. He pressed himself up and looked over at Britain as he marched over to the closet, snatched the door handle, and threw it backwards. As he did this, he also soared away, so that he would not be left helplessly standing in front of the closet to be downed with a lunging attack.

In the darkness, a white face swung. Britain yelped and fell back over the bed. Germany raced to his side and threw himself in view of the closet. The Scream mask that glowed white and sported black eyes as well as a black, long mouth, shifted.

Germany did not leap into the closet however. He received an initial startle just as Britain had, but now he could see the sparkling, silver-coloured wire that the mask was attached to. Its swings slowed until it hung still from the beam where no hangers with clothes currently were.

Germany muttered, "Now they're just mocking us. Setting up jumpscares."

"They knew that we were going to come to the conclusion that we did, and check the closet," Britain uttered. "Bollocks. They're still ahead of us."

Germany went back to the bed and snatched the phone and the charger. They left the room together and locked it once again. They returned to the front where breakfast was now being served and hurriedly gulped down. All eyes flashed over at the two people arriving back from down the hall, and they glimpsed the phone in Germany's hand.

"What's that for?" Austria gasped.

Panic followed. Many dropped everything to leap to their feet and cry out their fearful protests. Germany set the phone down on the table to make calming gestures with his hands.

"I do not intend on calling the police," he told them. "I merely want to know what time it is."

He gave Denmark a quick, stern glance before he gathered the pink phone and charger and walked across the room towards an outlet. Germany heard Poland remark, "Oh, that's my phone!" before he jammed in one end of the charger into the phone, and the other into the wall. He then sat down to be given his own filled plate, which he finished off quickly before discarding it and jumping up.

"Alright," he said. "It's time we go off and find that Shadow! Go out for some hours, then we'll all come back to report anything we've found."

 _If only we could use the sun_ , Germany thought. _We just have to guess again._

Germany then looked over at Canada.

"I need you," Germany said. "And Japan or Italy. We need to find the Shadow as quickly as possible, so I want another group out there."

"You want only one person to stay behind?" Canada gasped.

"The group inside may have the gun. All they have to do then is stay inside the circle and don't leave to go to the bathroom until we all come back."

Canada looked to Japan. The other nodded to confirm that he would stay behind.

Germany was visibly impatient as he tapped his foot. He said, "We're wasting time. Britain, tell them your hypothesis before we go out."

Britain got up and walked to Germany's side at the front. He was given full attention as he dived into the conclusions he had described before for Germany. As it had been with Germany, they were more open to the idea that no one amongst them was a traitorous liar who desired to have them either traumatized or ripped apart.

"Alright," Germany stated. "Look out for that, and look after each other. Today is our final chance to win. We cannot afford to fail."

No one signed out. The weapons were grabbed, then all were bursting outside with trots like those of anxious hounds on a fox hunt. Japan was surprised to find that even those who had been injured yesterday in the fight had left to join what might turn out to be the final search. As the door slammed, he collected the rifle from off the floor before stationing himself in the middle of the group of micronations plus Moldova and Latvia, who still could not walk. He peered over their heads to glare down the halls to be fully prepared for any attack that may come.

* * *

It was expected that the Shadow would have been found instantly, hovering around its usual place by the burial vault or wandering the trails in the forest behind the cemetery. Germany and the others were thoroughly disappointed when no tall, black figure was discernible between the pine trees far out across the cemetery. It was then that they split off to search for it as it had been already planned, by spreading out across the forest to track it down. It was likely that it would be in the back behind the cemetery, so most of the groups were concentrated there.

Germany proceeded with America, Poland, and Lithuania down the trail that forked to the right. Sweden, Denmark, and Finland were returning to the place they had discovered days ago: the tool shed stationed in the middle of the forest that had a secret tunnel below. The Shadow had been seen there twice, so it was hoped that it had a connection to the area and would be seen there again.

The gurgle of a raven was heard somewhere far away. Germany listened to it, and wondered briefly if that bird or any other one had ever seen anything devious unfold here out on the property. Perhaps beady eyes had glimpsed someone being pulled down into a tunnel, or maybe they had watched what had become of Russia. It was likely that the birds were witnesses, who would never donate their secrets to them.

The air was moist with a cold mist that had started to rise from the ground. The sun that was hidden away could not help disperse it with its warmth, so it was seeming to be this day's permanent attribute. They shivered and rubbed their numb hands, and Poland's teeth could be heard occasionally chattering. However, no one complained or spoke as they carried on, travelling off the path, looping around, and proceeding further.

Eventually, Germany said, "We have to do something to attract it. That way it will come to us and we won't waste all this time trying to find it."

America asked, "Like what?"

"I assume that noise draws it," Germany replied. "It came to the shed two times, and both times it appeared after loud noises. According to the Nordics, the first time it appeared was after Denmark had started yelling. Then, it was in the area after the chaos in the tunnel produced a lot of noise."

"So if it's curious, that's good for us and all," America said. "But then there's also some things we don't want hearing us. You know, wolves and stuff."

"That is unfortunately, a good point," Germany muttered. "Yelling and screaming out here would most likely not do us any good."

They then only continued searching, although they were dissatisfied when time continued to pass and still, no two-metre-tall shadow figure had been sighted. After the period of silence, Germany broke it again when he sighed and commented, "Let's just hope that at least some other group had more luck than us in finding it."

After these words had left his mouth, a chorus of screams erupted from far away.

* * *

"Have we been here before?" Seychelles had asked.

She had been referring to any of the search groups. Her group right now had travelled on a straight trajectory instead of circling around as Germany's group and other groups had done. As a result, they had covered a long distance, which had brought them to a field. Here, the forest broke suddenly to make way for long, pale grass that caressed their ankles as they stepped away from the cover of the trees.

China and Vietnam looked out over the field. China said, "I do not think anyone has made it this far."

Vietnam asked, "Do you think that this is the end of the property?"

The field stretched out long to the sides, but its entire area could not be determined, for a hill rose up and blocked the end from view. On top of this hill, squat trees stood in a peculiarly, straight line. The group of three approached, and as they came to the foot of the hill, Seychelles' foot squelched in something. When she halted, the others did as well to look back at her.

She lifted her foot to reveal a brown and white mush where two smooth seeds were visible. It was recognized as a rotten apple. A quick glance around revealed to them that the slope of the hill until the bottom was dotted with more apples in various degrees of decay. They took a closer look at the foliage of the trees and found that among the leaves, there were still some red apples hanging temptingly. They loped up the slope, squishing more fruit underfoot, until they reached the top and stood before the line of trees.

"Too bad we never saw this before," Seychelles said. "We could have collected these."

They did not believe that collecting the fruit would serve any purpose, for if today would turn out to be their last day at the mansion, then they would no longer need to restock their food supply. Vietnam reached up, grasped an apple, and shook the tree as she twisted the stem. The tree snapped back and swayed after the apple was parted from it to rest in Vietnam's hand.

She bit into it as she followed the others. The juice was not as sweet as she had expected, but turned out to be rather tart instead. She tossed it away, casting it over the slope they had just ascended, before they ducked down and snuck under the branches of two adjacent trees.

They were about to descend the slope when what they found at their feet made them freeze and inhale squeaking gasps. At first, their minds were unsure and tried desperately to deny what they were seeing, but once it could not be excused, they felt something sink within them while screams erupted from their throats. This feeling caused Seychelles to drop to her knees and slap her hands over her face as an attempt to cover her eyes, although her fingers had spread to allow her wide eyes to lock upon the form.

A skeleton lay sprawled out over the grass, mostly picked clean although hair was still attached to the remaining, decomposing skin over the scalp. The clothes were mostly torn so that whatever meat that had lain under could also be removed, but what dark clothes remained sagged around the body and pressed into the flattened grass. The skull faced towards the viewers as though it had been expecting their arrival, with its neck extended to show off the scarf tethered to its neck.

Seychelles fell backwards on the ground above the skeleton. The shock of seeing the body stabbed her heart and she emitted a mixture of sobs and terrified screams. Vietnam was breathing so rapidly that it sounded like repetitive gasps, but then China's screams ended suddenly. He breathed out a few shaky breaths, trying to form words, but struggled to make his windy whisper heard.

After a few attempts, the other two finally heard him breathe, "It's not him."

Vietnam and Seychelles paused. They regarded the skeleton once again. China murmured, "The scarf… it's black, not purple."

Their eyes were finally able to comprehend it. The ripped fabric hanging around the vertebrae of the neck was indeed black, and not the metallic purple that Russia had worn with his costume. In addition to this, the body was dressed in ravaged black pants and a brown coat; typical autumn-wear instead of a demon costume with wings and a tail.

"But this looks rather fresh," Vietnam pointed out. "So who is this?"

"A hiker, maybe?" Seychelles asked.

China agreed with this idea, saying, "Right. Maybe they followed a trail off the road and wandered onto the property by accident!"

Vietnam added, "This was before we arrived, maybe many weeks ago-"

Seychelles began to scream once again. China and Vietnam jumped, then followed her finger's direction down the hill. Down the apple-speckled slope until the bottom, four other skeletons lay twisted and separated from each other. They seemed to be older, for they were cleaner, and their bones were bleached an intense white that glowed even under the dim light.

"Five bodies," Seychelles whispered.

They passed by the first skeleton to investigate the others quickly. None of them were recognizable to these three in the slightest.

"But what are they doing here?" China asked. "Who put them here?"

"Hey," Seychelles said suddenly. "I feel strange here... I think we should get going."

"Hold on, maybe one of them has a cross," Vietnam said.

She poked at a skeleton with her foot. She turned it over to get a peek of its dirty, yellowish underside, before she let the skeleton flop back down on its stomach in its original position. She did the same to the other bodies while frowning.

"Nothing on them," she said.

China exclaimed, "But look at the bones! Do you see the marks?"

The indents in the arm and leg bones were now obvious. There were nicks that likened scratches, then here and there they found holes deeply punctured into the body. One skull was absolutely savaged in the face, with many holes drilled into it among a cluster of multiple scratches that also had been imprinted into the bone.

"They look like the dead animals," China explained. "They have bite marks all over their bodies."

Seychelles gasped, "Then that means-"

Vietnam exclaimed, "These people were killed by the wolves!"

"But why are all the bodies together?" Seychelles asked. "Did someone do this?"

A skeleton twitched. It was one in front of them that they all had seen move. They stumbled backwards, whipping their heads back towards the one they had left behind them. That one began to shift, with its spine curving upwards and pushing its chest up to the sky. The skeletons to their sides were now starting to move as well, and so the three of them raced back to the apple trees while staring back behind them.

All of the chests lifted higher as black mist seeped out from their ribs and spiraled like smoke upwards. The bodies collapsed as this mist parted from them and curled away. The mist thickened as it floated towards the center space between all of the bodies. Here, the five curls of fog merged and became a rotating mass that lengthened and took form. Elongated arms with slender fingers dropped to dangle loosely while the knees of the even longer legs bent to support the building form of some humanesque creature. As the fog was sucked into this figure, the sharp lines of ribs became perceptible while a hollow stomach pushed far backwards as though attempting to scrape the spine. A head snapped forward, its smooth edges being carved until a hard, skull-like form was created.

As the last coils of mist drifted into the figure to strengthen its shade to a disturbing vantablack depth, two incandescent eyes burst to life on its face. The form was completed, and the Shadow stood partway down the slope many metres away from the group. The head tilted upwards to focus its acute gaze upon them.

There was only excitement initially. China cried out, "Yes, we found it!"

It walked so very slowly and carefully towards them while making absolutely no sound as it crept upwards. Its jaw dropped as it assured them in a windy moan, " _Cuuuuinneeeeahhhhh_ …"

"Try looking into its eyes!" Vietnam cried. "Someone- no, I'll do it!"

She hopped out to stand before it. She held her head up stiffly to lock her eyes upon the Shadow's face. However, Vietnam was taken back when the Shadow snapped its head backwards suddenly to look behind itself. The three of them glanced worriedly into the forest past it, but saw nothing among the trees. They looked back to the Shadow, who had ceased all movement while it stared away.

"Did something happen?" China asked.

Queasiness began to affect them as the creature continued to stay in its state of petrification.

Vietnam began to say, "Umm-"

The face snapped back towards them and the long arms snapped out to the side with flexed fingers hooking like claws. Its jaw dropped further as though it had become dislocated as it shrieked, " _Cuuuiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiii!_ "

The group screeched as the Shadow pelted up the hill after them. They dove through the branches of the apple trees, taking no care this time and only allowing their faces to be scratched in various directions. The Shadow burst through the trees without hindrance, and promptly trampled down the hill after them. The three tripped and slipped on the rotten apples, but managed to keep their footing as they sprinted over the grass.

China gasped, "We are too far away from the others and we have no weapon!"

The tall black shape screamed, " _Cuuuaaarrrrinneeeeahh!_ "

Seychelles yelped as black fingers swept through the air and raked China's back. He cried out in agony as the flesh on his back was burnt with red streaks unseen under the fabric of his costume. China charged on ahead in panic, bolting down the path until he was running side-by-side with the others. They gasped and choked for breath as they were pursued continuously without pause. Whenever one of them caught a deep inhale, they screamed out on the exhale, " _Help!_ "

China felt a deep side-cramp stitch his side. He stretched it out while breathing deeply, but he began to fall behind the others again. The Shadow screeched and snatched his shoulders, and China yelled as his skin was scorched and he could feel his skin sizzling away. The grip disappeared when he was hurled forward, and he stumbled while still running after the others.

The Shadow halted and left the three people still fleeing. It snapped its head to the side and sent a piercing gaze over at the group that tripped into the scene. Sweden, Denmark, and Finland gasped when the Shadow convulsed and whipped its head to the sky to emit an ear-splitting screech that ripped through the previous silent air of the forest. The three Nordics slapped their hands against their ears and cringed. They were pedalling backwards even before the Shadow dipped its head down and charged at them while still shrieking.

Denmark swore, and Sweden swiped the scythe through the air. The blade curved through the body without effect, then in the next second Sweden was sailing backwards through the air until he smashed into the ground and rolled away. The scythe flew from his hands, but Denmark recollected it as he and Finland dashed towards Sweden. Sweden jumped to his feet on his own, and did not bother dusting himself off before he began racing away with them.

Finland cried, "Why is it attacking us?"

Finland ran alongside them, but he threw back his head to look at the Shadow. He tried meeting its gaze, and after a few seconds a few images burnt into his mind. White triangles and red. A mass of gray, yellow, black, and brown fur. Black noses and lips. A ring of merciless, sadistic black eyes above him set deep in wrinkled, furry faces. Every blink separated him from the pictures, but every time the gaze was recaptured, he saw new scenes; every one of them containing those savage, familiar beasts.

" _Cuuueeeeneeeeah!_ _Cuiahneeah!_ "

"Remember that!" Sweden called. "Those are words!"

They saved their breath by not responding, but they noted the sounds as Sweden had suggested that they do. They tore down the path they had used to run to the aid of Seychelles, China, and Vietnam, but they were still agonizingly far from the cemetery. They ran on for a while, glancing back occasionally to confirm that the Shadow was still indeed chasing them. Sometimes they did not need to clarify this fact for themselves, and instead they only had to hear the raspy moans that came from right behind them, or ever so often they were made aware of the pressure when they were scratched or shoved.

After more time had passed however, Finland realized, _It isn't trying to grab us, and it isn't running as fast as it was before. Why though? Is it that it is only trying to chase everyone out of the area?_

It clicked then.

 _The wolves are coming._

Finland screamed it to them.

"The wolves are coming! That's why the Shadow is chasing us!"

The other two's eyes flashed in understanding. As they ran, they started glancing to their sides. Denmark then gasped, "Should we go for a tree then?"

Sweden and Finland agreed. They looked around themselves at the unofferable pines that were thin and straight with crumbling bark and supported no branches except for the brittle ones at the top. They tried scanning for a solid deciduous tree hiding among the mix, and eventually Sweden called out, "Oak!"

It was not as large and old as the one in the cemetery, but it appeared strong and easy to climb. Sweden was the first to hurl himself at it and try scrambling up the branches. The Shadow zipped past Finland and Denmark to swipe him down and shove him forward. The three Nordics gave up on the tree and kept running forward.

"The mansion then!" Finland cried. "Maybe we have time!"

Denmark said, "Better than getting stuck in a tree without anyone knowing where we are I guess..."

They were not allowed to become tired. The Shadow would correct their paces with more clawing burns if they toned down their speed. They were kept at a brisk jog however, once they discovered that a sprint was no longer necessary. They ran on like this for approximately fifteen minutes until they saw the grass of the cemetery peeking through the trees.

As though the Shadow was a severe trainer, it kept them running with loud cries that were uncomfortably close to their ears. The Nordics burst out into the field and saw other groups already bolting through the cemetery on their way back to the mansion. China's group seemed to have found a more direct path back to the cemetery, for they were a bit ahead and already a quarter of the way back to the mansion that stood towering over everything.

The thick gray sky loomed above them, barely giving sufficient light to break through the thickening mist. The view before them was fuzzy, and cool moisture clung to them as they scrambled through the mist. The other groups heard the screeching once the final three burst out into the cemetery, and they whipped back their heads to see the trainer nearly treading on the heels of the Nordic group.

America halted, then whisked away to run towards the pursued group. He bared one of the iron weapons, but Finland saw it and hollered, "No! Don't stop! Go to the mansion!"

America blinked in surprise and stopped regardless. He had to check their faces to see if they were stressed by the creature behind them, but they ran on as though they did not notice it there. America turned and recommenced fleeing, trying to catch up to his group who had gone on ahead. The Shadow screamed for the benefit of all, pressing everyone to keep on going.

They were racing along both sides of the mansion when a multitude of shapes burst from the trees across the cemetery. A stampede of clawed beasts with damp pelts pounded the ground as they sprinted through the first row of tombstones. They could now be seen through the mist and lack of light as multicolored forms that weaved easily between the obstacles. The Shadow now stopped its chase and allowed everyone to finish their flight on their own, ducking one-by-one inside the mansion. It turned away from them and faced the large, incoming pack. Its words were gone and replaced by silence. Final glances were given at the Shadow before the corner was rounded and the final groups were safely stored inside.

Japan called out, "We heard strange cries. What happened?"

"That was the Shadow," Vietnam replied while catching her breath. "It attacked us!"

"No, no!" Finland exclaimed. "It was trying to scare us anyway! You saw the wolves, didn't you? It saved us from them!"

Germany said, "The relation between the wolves and the Shadow is obvious. Did anyone manage to find out any information about it?"

"We did!" Seychelles exclaimed. "We went out far until we found a field with a hill and apple trees. We found five skeletons by the trees, and the Shadow came out from them. It is not a dark spirit at all, or even one spirit! The Shadow is five ghosts all merged together!"

"And we got a look at the bodies," Vietnam said. "They looked like the animal corpses in the forest. These people were killed and eaten by the wolves, and for some reason their bodies were put together."

Germany's eyebrows raised, "The wolves killed the Shadow?"

Finland jumped in, "The visions make sense now! When I looked into its eyes, I saw memories of being chased, then teeth and blood. I saw their final moments before death!"

"It is a hate-filled, powerful being," Britain said. "The fury within it must be causing the heat."

Germany said, "So that means that Latvia was not burned because his gemstone calmed it enough."

Romania asked, "And what did you hear it say? I could only hear it screaming from a distance."

Seychelles said, "It was something like _cuiiahnee_."

Denmark added, " _Cuiniiahh_? Something like that."

Finland then put in, "But it is raspy. We should take away those sounds."

" _Cuinee_?" Sweden uttered.

Romania looked confused.

" _Cuinee_...?" he said. "What, hold on… do you mean câini?"

"Do you know what that is?" Germany demanded.

"But it's odd," Romania said. "If that is the word, then that quintuple spirit has been running around moaning 'dogs' this entire time."

"Dogs?" France said. "But surely they are wolves?"

Canada said, "But what if they're not really?"

"But they look like wolves," Austria pointed out.

Bulgaria said, "They're pretty big too. Also, their fur is yellow and gray."

Finland mused, "But the one in the tunnel had black fur."

Germany confirmed, "It did."

"Wolfdogs?" Britain offered. "That's a breed."

"Can we use the internet?" America asked. "We wouldn't be contacting anyone, so it's good, right?"

Germany went to Poland's phone. When he powered it on, he was met with the time of 12:30. He shared this news with the others before he had Poland put in his password, and Romania get them connected to the wifi network.

Germany took the phone into the center, and many tried to crowd around him as he began searching.

"Alright," he said for all those who could not see the screen. "I am going to search 'wolfdogs'."

He put in the search on images and the page was filled with pictures of the animals running or standing beside owners. America said, "Dude, there's no way those are dogs!"

Their body frames were wolf-like, and with the colour and thickness of their fur, they truly did not appear to be different from true wolves. However, with a scroll of his thumb, Germany found an image of a black wolfdog being stroked by a human hand.

"It appears to be true," Germany commented.

He then clicked on the web to find the Wikipedia page labelled _Czechoslovakian Wolfdog_. He glanced at the images, which looked so similar to the animals that had swarmed Russia. He remarked, "This must be it."

He scrolled back to the top and started to read aloud whatever seemed useful, " _The Czechoslovakian wolfdog is a relatively new breed… from 1955_. _It has pack mentality_ … and it says that it has amazing endurance. Then it says here: _the coat color is yellow-grey to silver-grey_. And: _It is quick, lively, very active, and courageous... The Czechoslovakian Wolfdog develops a very strong social relationship - not only with their owner, but with the whole family_ … Okay, then here it says: _If required, they can easily shift their activity to the night hours_."

"It seems like a good breed," Lithuania said. "So then, someone must have trained them to be this way."

"You mean someone trained them as hunting dogs," Britain said. "Who have also been fed off a diet of meat. So they are feral, and very dangerous. Perhaps they have an attachment to their trainer, but other than that, they are no different than regular wolves."

"They hunt humans too," Canada murmured.

"That explains it!" Ukraine gasped. "The wolves showed up to collect Russia because they were commanded to!"

"Hold on," Germany said. "If these dogs killed those five people, that means they've been here a long time. That also means that their trainer has been here that long as well. So it's true then. The culprit is none of us."

America said, "So then Romania, some dude's been living in your house before you even bought it."

Romania's jaw dropped and he looked noticeably paler.

France said, "1955 was not that long ago, but it must have taken more time before the breed was more widespread. Then, the previous owner said that he saw black shapes running through the cemetery. The dogs were here since then too."

"That man lived here ten years ago," Romania murmured. "And he bought the house after… I think it was fifty years after the family whose daughter hung herself left."

"So at some point between those two owners, someone made themselves at home here," Britain mused. "And perhaps they started with a few dogs. After a while, they must have received more by either buying and or breeding. Then, after many years of training, we are where we are today."

"But hold up again," America said. "This sounds like some crazy stranger who moved in here illegally with his dogs, but then, how do they know who we are? They are targeting the formerly-aligned Soviet nations, and they have a huge grudge on Russia!"

"That's right," France gasped. "This can't just be some regular person."

"They must be a nation as well," Germany growled.

"But who?" Japan asked. "We know where the others live. They already have homes. Why would they live here?"

America replied, "If they live close by, they can probably hop in whenever they would like to, leaving their dogs to fend for themselves and toughen up."

"Could it be Czech or Slovakia?" China asked.

"They wouldn't do that!" Bulgaria coughed.

Germany asked, "But how well do you know them?"

"I know them to the same degree as you," Romania said. "Enough that it would be very strange to be thinking that they would do this. Even if the dog breed originated from Czechoslovakia, it doesn't mean it's them. Anyone could have purchased these dogs..."

Britain sighed, "We need to focus on singling out someone who hated the Soviet Union or Russia."

"We can't be for certain unless we have proof," Germany said. "And knowing the name of a hiding stranger isn't going to help us find the missing people. We're just wasting time now. We know that it isn't one of us, and we know the wolves are dogs and what the Shadow is, although all of this does nothing to help us find them."

"You're right," Canada said. "We still have nothing!"

"We've never found any clue that leads us towards their whereabouts," Britain grumbled. "Even if we have searched practically everywhere. I think that they are in the mansion and not the forest. I don't think this person is using magic to capture anyone, so the missing people would have to be stored close by in order for Prussia to disappear and for the note to appear in the span of ten minutes."

"How did they get into the kitchen though?" America asked. "I still don't get it."

"Maybe it's like a movie," France said. "Maybe there are secret passages. Fake bookshelves, or a drawer you pull out or something."

"I would have noticed something like that," Romania insisted. "I've moved around many things, especially when I first moved in here and started unpacking my stuff."

"It wouldn't hurt to check," Canada shrugged.

"Go ahead, I mean," Romania nodded. "I just find it unlikely that you will see something I haven't."

Many hopped out of the circle to go to the kitchen. Hands reached for the surfaces, trying to find things to pull or push. There was a bustle as the many people hurried over the floor that was stained with grotesque faces, to touch everything. However, no hand was the first to uncover a secret passage, for after an intense search, nothing was found. They all left the kitchen one-by-one in disappointment to return to those who were waiting.

Germany grabbed the side of his head with one tight hand and growled, "Why can't we ever find anything?"

"Perhaps we should try my method again?" Britain offered. "We can check the circle and be absolutely sure that we do no mistakes this time. It must have just been a communication error, and Romania and I did not check each other's work. If we do it right this time, we can be able to summon the missing people here one-by-one without having to know where they were being hidden."

Germany hissed, "I don't want another mistake that can turn out worse than last time."

"It won't turn out like that. I promise," Britain replied. "I told you last time how it would turn out when everything is setup properly. Either we get them, or the energy in this location is too contradicting and we get no results. If there's a chance that we recover everyone right now, don't you want to take it?"

"Do it then," Germany uttered. "Get everyone back."

The duffel bags were still left out from their previous usage. Britain and Romania recovered the black chalk, and after they cleaned up the smudges that had destroyed the circle, they began to redraw the lines in a thicker, more solid black than the last time. They made an effort to make sure that no gaps or cuts nicked the lines, and that the extra items were in the right places. Romania and Britain had a swift debate over the placement of a bone, but then it was settled. Germany became concerned over this, but he was brushed off and told not to worry.

Candles were freshly lit. Britain and Romania paced the circle side-by-side to recheck their work once again. They appeared satisfied and confident, so they collected the same old book as the last time and stood together with it held up between their hands.

The Latin chants were familiar; their beats were recognizable from the last summoning attempt from the third night at the mansion. Their voices were deep and monotonous, and the others listened in captivation as they tried to assume what was being said. Most gave up instantly, and just let their hearts match the beating of the chants that resembled so much the pounding of a drum.

The chant picked up in the same spot as it had last time, but no matter how imposing it all was to the bystanders, the circle gave no recognition for their efforts. No matter how powerful or fast their chant became, the candles remained perfectly undisturbed, and the lines of the circle stayed black without any glow or mist seeping from them. Britain continued voicing his lines, but he cast a gaze up from the book to observe the circle, and his eyebrows dropped as he noticed that their efforts were gaining no result so far.

He looked back down and continued his lines with complete, serious fervor. Britain raised his voice to a yell to emphasize whatever passion he had kept trapped beneath his surface for the last few days. Once the final shout parted from his throat, he felt the last of his energy leave him along with it. His head rolled to the side, and he and Romania inhaled a few full breaths to recover from their bout of yelling. They both looked at the insensate pentagram with its bones, stones, and other peculiar items accompanying it and lying untroubled on the floor.

Britain let go of the book, and it dropped from Romania's hand and smacked against the floor before it could be caught.

"How typical," Britain's mutter was cold. "Of course it wouldn't work. We simply are not allowed to succeed."

Romania hesitantly picked up the open book which now possessed a few bent pages. He straightened out the creases the best he could before he closed the book. All the while he had been giving Britain a concerned look.

"There must be another way," Romania whispered. "Maybe there's something else in this book."

Britain muttered abruptly, "I never thought we would lose."

Romania blinked and uttered, "What?"

Britain continued, "The whole time it just seemed that despite everything, we would win and get everyone out of here. But that's not going to happen. We only have a few hours left, and we still have no idea where anyone is."

"Why are you so pessimistic?" Italy cried. "We can find them before tonight!"

"There is nothing left for us to do," Britain sighed. "Nothing will work. The culprit has already tried their best to be sure of that as well. We'll be picked off one-by-one, killed and tortured perhaps, until we all are taken to be given the knowledge that we never could have saved each other or ourselves."

America began to appear stressed. He stepped towards Britain, saying, "Stop saying these things. Please… You were creepy before but now you are just… You're really scaring everyone."

"The truth is scary, isn't it?" Britain commented. "It's hard for me to accept as well, but I cannot just deny it. I hate being helpless and frankly, outsmarted. But we were not prepared to take on this person and this mansion. I'm not even sure if having more time would have helped us, or would just have gotten more of us hurt or stolen away. Likely we would end up turning on each other to break this temporary peace, and we would die like Russia."

"Russia's not dead!" Ukraine screamed. "He was taken away!"

"Taken away to another hill perhaps," Britain murmured. "Like those five skeletons, he might have been collected like a prize, to dry out in the sun."

"What the hell?" America hollered. "Stop! Shut your damn mouth already! Why are you saying these things?"

"Remember what the note said?" Britain cried. " _Four_ prisoners- not five. Didn't any of you realize it? The culprit does not have Russia!"

Eyes flew open as the realization struck them all for the first time. Ukraine choked and crossed her arms over her stomach as though she was about to vomit. She fell to her knees and began sobbing so deeply that the jerking of her body could have likened retches.

"No!" America exclaimed. "He's alive! If they were going to eat him, they would have! But those dogs took him away!"

"Well, someone's dead then!" Britain protested. "They only have four of us when five are missing!"

"What if Russia escaped?" Canada offered. "And he was never captured like Latvia never was?"

"We just searched all through the forest," France countered. "He didn't call out to us."

"Stop this now!" Germany boomed.

The loudness of his voice made them all cringe as they usually did whenever he exploded into a rage. Germany only continued to yell, "Enough of this talk! We cannot afford to lose hope, because then today will be lost and then the game will be as well! No talking about death! We _will_ save everyone!

"I told you all that we will all walk out of here alive, and we will! No matter what injuries we attain, we will take them during the struggle to win the game and bring the culprit to justice! As long as we keep our spirit and get through it all together, we can do it! We've had slip-ups, and we have fought and failed each other, but that does not define us! We _can_ overcome the manipulation! We are not savages on the inside; someone wants us to believe that, but that is wrong! We stay here at the mansion because we have honor and loyalty! We are not selfish; we do not leave to save ourselves and let the others die. I will tell you again: We are not savages!"

The depression was broken, and cheers were hurled back at him.

" _We will not lose!_ "

" _We won't leave without them!_ "

" _We'll walk out together!_ "

" _Let's tear this place apart!_ "

Germany did not know who had said that, but the idea was highly appealing. He thought, _Tear the house apart… That might have us stumble upon a secret passage!_

Romania appeared surprised upon hearing the yell, but before he could protest, Germany was shouting, "Break the walls! Tear off the floorboards! Let's find the passage!"

The weapons were snatched, and many others snatched whatever they could. A crowd of knifes swiped down and stabbed between the cracks of the hardwood boards in the floor, wiggling and prying to remove them. The scythe and shears punctured the wall while some others opted to attack it with their bodies or with furniture. The clock was hoisted up between many and used as a battering ram to be charged into the wall to deliver a hefty dent. The children did not even spend time being afraid of the destructive frenzy around them, and they joined in immediately, ripping away the floor to scratch at the subfloor.

Romania was stunned as he watched his house being devastated, but he only stood and observed it all without protest, for he comprehended the greater importance. He saw that Bulgaria was also frozen and unsure whether he should take part in the destruction of his friend's house. This had Romania then wondering about his brother, and if he was taking part.

He checked his sides where his brother was usually sure to be found. They were currently unoccupied, so he glanced out over the highly mobile crowd to scan for Moldova's small, gently-coloured form. Romania did not see him with the micronations, or hanging by the hips of the other nations.

His heart rate picked up as he turned around himself. He turned to Bulgaria and asked, "Where's Moldova?"

Bulgaria's eyes flashed open, and he whipped his head side-to-side as he desperately searched through the people for him. He then turned his frightened face towards Romania.

"I don't see him!" Bulgaria gasped.

Romania immediately called out, "Moldova? Where are you? Moldova!"

The others heard the panic in his voice, and they paused their work to glance around themselves nervously. Some remembered him being by Romania during the summoning, but now, he could not be seen anywhere.

"He was right here!" Romania cried. "He was in the middle of the crowd! What happened to him?"

The others kept looking around, but it was now apparent. Moldova had somehow vanished without a single person witnessing what had become of him.

* * *

The light footsteps on the third floor could not be heard from the bottom level. A small, clothed shape bounced on toes without a sense of danger while travelling alone down the silent hall. The small hands did not even find their way out of their sleeves when they pressed down on a door handle and pushed the door inwards. The slow creak it produced went seemingly unnoticed to all residents of the mansion.

Moldova hopped into the bedroom that contained a bed with its spread and pillows in disarray. A sheet had been taken from it; the one that Norway had used to wrap Iceland's injury and slow the bleeding. A few drops of his blood had dried into the blanket, spotting the elegant, eggshell white fabric with brown. Moldova then wondered to himself about why blood lost its crimson tone after being dried. Over the last few days, he had become familiar with the exact colour that pumped out from writhing, opened people, so now he longed after a scientific answer to satisfy his curiosity.

He glanced around the room, before he shut his eyes and raised his head high to call out, "Ghost? Are you here? Ghost?"

Moldova listened to the silence that followed. He fiddled with the chain of his pendant until a minute had passed. He cried out then, "Ghost? I'm here, in your room! Why aren't you coming?"

He called a third time after a minute had passed. He frowned at the continued silence that returned to him, and he tapped the quartz against his left clavicle. Moldova sighed, then went up to the window to peek outside into the front yard. He checked the sky before looking down to admire the thickening fog below. He was captivated by the silhouettes of the trees being consumed by this fog, when something in front of him shifted. His eyes flashed up and beheld the reflected image of a tall form silently gliding towards him.

Moldova gasped, before turning around to face the approaching figure. No greeting was given to him. The one who had entered the room only permitted a very slow smile to creep across his face.


	14. The Dance in Blood Mist

_He began to dance and his laughter became a bloodthirsty snarling._

* * *

"Ghost!" Moldova cried. "You came!"

A windy breath returned to him; a reply to him in his language. A deep tone was weaved into the voice, and the whisper was, "You called me, Moldova."

The coldness crept from the tall, thin man, but Moldova ignored the goosebumps prickling his arms. He only chirped back, "I haven't seen you in a while! Where have you been?"

The hoarse whisper arrived, "I have been watching."

"I've been trying to find you." Moldova pouted. "I really wanted to ask you some things."

"I am sorry… It has been hard, you must understand. Everything is changing, and I am losing power like the others."

Moldova's face dropped into full seriousness.

"The darkness…" he murmured. "Hey, have you been feeling any different?"

"Yes," Ghost sighed. "There is an evil that is here in the mansion. I feel myself becoming affected by it like my friends. I fear that I will not be able to keep myself pure, for there seems to be no escape for us."

"A dark spirit?" Moldova asked.

He replied, "A powerful one."

"What does it want?"

Ghost replied, "I do not know."

Moldova threw his arms out to the side and cried out, "Please help us! You must have seen where everyone gets taken? Right?"

Ghost hovered by the shadows beside the ray of sunlight that cut into the room. He was still, with limp arms and slackened fingers. The clothes upon him were remarkably old-fashioned, made up of modest browns, grays, and whites. He had a calm, amiable face that was long and cleanly-shaved. His skin was wrinkle-free, and his eyes were a pale gray. He seemed to be quite young, either belonging to the late teens, or early twenties. It was for this reason that his chalky, quiet voice always came as a surprise to Moldova.

Ghost stared forward blankly as though checking the wall behind Moldova by gazing through him. He replied, "I have seen where they go."

"Where? Tell me, please!"

"There are doors," Ghost whispered. "In the walls, hidden behind the wallpaper. But where there are cracks, there is a door. These doors lead to the secret levels, which lie between each floor. The stairs are so long for this reason, giving a lot of space between the ceiling of the lower level and the floor of the upper one. There are four levels, and then there is the second attic."

"Levels between the levels?" Moldova gasped. "And another attic?

Ghost bowed his head once as a nod. He then murmured, "There are fives keys that he uses. One for each level to open the doors that lead to small drop into the hidden floors, and then one to unlock the attic. This attic is where they are."

Moldova piped up, "Who has the keys?"

Ghost titled his head to the side.

"I do not know his name, but he has blond hair."

"Blond? Don't you know more?"

"A black costume," he continued.

Moldova turned and stared away at the disheveled bed. He murmured, "Costume? What do you mean… Wait- the culprit is… one of _us_?"

Ghost nodded again although Moldova was not looking at him. He said, "He carries the keys, but they look as though to be part of his costume. I don't know what else I can say… Maybe you know who it is now?"

Moldova's eyes had snapped open, and he was now nodding furiously at the bed. Before he gave a verbal confirmation, Ghost then added, "Ah… He also has green eyes."

Moldova whispered, "But… No… Why would he do this? He doesn't seem like the type!"

Moldova whirled around, but the spot where Ghost had stood was now empty. Moldova wasted no time. He pounded across the floor, striding through the cold spot to burst out into the hall. He spun around the corner and hurried to the stairs with his wide eyes forward and his lips pulled back. He trampled down each long flight of stairs as he raced to return to the others, but now he looked at the walls that started to border him on either side halfway down each flight.

 _Secret halls!_ Moldova thought. _A second attic!_

The panic that had been given only ten minutes to unfold halted as everyone heard the thudding rapidly approaching them down the stairs. Hopping down the center of the final flight, Moldova arrived on scene in plain view. An eruption of gasps were produced at the time of his appearance, and Moldova looked around worriedly as he was stared at.

"Moldova!" Romania cried. He rushed forward until he stopped just before him.

"Romania, I-"

"Why did you go up there alone?" Romania demanded. "What were you thinking?"

Bulgaria came up to Romania's side to as well, scold him. He exclaimed, "Did you want to get captured?"

Moldova gasped, "No! I went to talk to Ghost to find out where the missing people were!"

Romania inhaled sharply as a new expression was stamped on his face."What? You made contact with a ghost?"

"Not a ghost- Ghost!"

Romania pressed, "What are you talking about?"

Moldova then exclaimed, "I know where they are! There are secret doors that lead to floors hidden between the regular ones! That's why the stairs are so long! They go from here over one floor then to the next!"

"There's no room for that…" Romania replied, but with blatant hesitance.

"But Ghost said that the doors are concealed by wallpaper!" Moldova went on. "They're hard to notice, but there should be cracks and creases!"

"That explains the sudden disappearances!" Germany exclaimed. "There are secret passages all around us! So we were right!"

"There's a secret attic," Moldova said. "And that's where everyone's being stored!"

Germany swung head around so that he could look over all the individuals in the crowd once.

"Find one of these doors!" he yelled. "And break it down!"

Just as everyone was about to take action, Moldova padded past his brother and came closer to Germany. He squeaked out, "But Ghost didn't just tell me that! He told me more!"

Germany looked down at him, and everyone else paused to listen.

"He said that the culprit was using five keys to unlock the doors." Moldova's eyes watered as he lifted his finger and pointed across the room. "He told me a description… and it was about him!"

The heads slowly turned backwards.

Moldova shouted, "Poland did it!"

"What?" Lithuania cried. "Of course he didn't!"

Lithuania and Poland watched the gazes around the room narrow as a dangerous light began into sparkle in their eyes. This sparkle however, was not as bright as the light that glimmered off the key ring attached to the belt of Poland's hip.

The crowd pressed closer. Lithuania yelled out, "No! You have it all wrong! These keys are a part of his costume!"

Poland emitted an odd choking sound as he watched the faces around them wrinkling with bestial wrath. He then managed to meet Germany's flaming gaze, and he promptly threw himself at Lithuania to cower and cling to one of his arms.

A sharp hiss crawled out from Germany's throat, putting great emphasis on the single word that he uttered.

" _You?_ "

Lithuania felt Poland's death grip cutting off the blood circulation in his arm. He called out, "No, this is-"

"You are in on this too!" Britain cried. "When the power went out- that's it! My second hypothesis- you two are partners in crime!"

Lithuania gasped. It was then at this moment that all teeth bared and what sounded terrifyingly close to snarls escaped from the crowd. Lithuania's facial expression dropped into one of unpredictable legibility. The ring pressed closer, but then he hesitated no longer, and he charged forward to barge powerfully through the crowd. Poland yelped as he was dragged along with him, panicking but still holding onto his upper arm.

Lithuania then threw him off him and forward, yelling, "Go! Go!"

They tore through the halls, and an explosion of furious roars erupted from the room they had just escaped. A stampede of feet shook the floor to give the impression that an earthquake was underway. Lithuania cast a look over his shoulder and gasped at the sight of the rabid mob. He snatched Poland's arm in a grip that was a little too hard and caused him to yip, before he dove into an adjacent room.

Lithuania slammed and locked the door before taking a dresser and beginning to drag it towards the door. Poland trotted around to push, and together they slid the piece of furniture across the carpet to quickly relocate it in front of the door. Lithuania then went and grabbed the closest blunt object he could find, which happened to be a lamp, before he whipped it at the window.

The glass shattered as a massive thump hit the door. Poland leapt out the window, and Lithuania soared out after him. They bolted away and gained enough time to be swallowed up by the fog before the dresser was tipped over and the door to the room was kicked in. Promptly after the fall of the dresser and the door, two other shapes threw themselves out the window to as well, become blurry, dark forms that eventually disappeared from sight.

Germany and Canada popped their heads out the window and turned their gazes to the side. A thick, white mist hovered like a wall, preventing them from seeing what had become of the four who had just run out onto the grounds.

"Oh no," Canada groaned. "Something terrible is going to happen. I know it!"

Germany hopped out and landed squarely on the grass. Canada soon jumped out to fall down beside him. They both began to sprint away, side-by-side, watched by many others who stared at the fog in concern before deciding to hang tight indoors.

Germany muttered in reply, "What do you mean?"

Canada said, "Besides the dogs, I know those two were the last people who should have gone after Poland and Lithuania."

"Again, what do you mean?"

"One will do anything to protect those who are important to us… But it is this, that separates us. You must have seen it happening already. So they do not care anymore about Poland and Lithuania. They aren't going to talk to them. After what has been done to them, I know that they took those weapons for one thing only: _revenge_."

* * *

"No! Wait- please!" Finland screamed.

France had snatched a hold of his shirt and was now dragging him away. Finland tried digging in his heels as he was forced up the stairs, but then Britain whipped around to grab a hold of him as well to throw him upwards.

"Come on!" Britain hollered. "Get going! We don't have that much time!"

Tears budded in the corners of Finland's eyes, but he finally began walking upwards on his own. The impatience built within the other two, and Finland was grabbed again and thrown forward. He stumbled and nearly tripped onto the next flight of stairs, but his hands flung out and grasped onto the railing.

"Faster!" Britain yelled. "Before we lose them!"

"Wait, no! I don't want to-"

France gave him another shove to get him running. Finland coughed and began sniffling as they forced him up the next flight of stairs. They rushed onto the third floor, then rounded the corner and hauled Finland up to the fourth floor. France and Britain's faces twisted in desperate rage as they struggled with the window for a few seconds until it was successfully opened.

They stood before the hole that led out to a massive drop. Finland was snatched and dragged towards it. Finland gasped when he was released and a second later, the rifle was being shoved into his hands.

"No!" Finland cried, scrambling to push it away.

"Do it!" Britain shouted.

Finland's hands closed around the rifle, but he still whimpered, "No! I-I can't…"

Through the profound fog, the silhouettes of large objects were still discernible. The trees of the cemetery could be made out, although the burial vault that was situated quite far away was completely concealed from sight. Then however, two black blurs sped towards a tree, hardly visible and appearing like dark eye floaters. These similarly shaped forms were separating from each other, but the one that Finland carefully aimed his rifle upon seemed taller.

Finland gulped, knowing full well who he was currently targeting. For a moment, he just kept his aim straight without doing anything else. Soon, four other separating shapes appeared, heading after the two up ahead of them.

"Shoot him!" Britain screamed.

Finland whipped his head backwards to cry, "No! It doesn't make sense! Estonia is Lithuania's friend! He would never hurt him!"

France shrieked, "Shoot him now! Shoot him!"

"I can't kill him!" Finland wailed.

"Injure him!" Britain yelled. "We know how good your aim is! Just take him down!"

Finland moaned and levelled the rifle on his form again. His finger stroked the trigger as the tears poured down his face relentlessly.

"Shoot him!" the other two screamed. "Shoot! Shoot!"

Finland was balling by the time the sound of the gunshot cracked the air. Lithuania shrieked as the meat of his left hamstring muscles exploded and caused him to crash to the ground. Finland dropped the rifle with a sob and he stumbled backwards until he collapsed to his knees. He bent forward and dropped his face into his hands to cry profusely.

"No, no, no," he sobbed. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry… Oh no, what have I done? He's innocent… I shot him..."

Britain and France ignored Finland as they watched Lithuania's form drag itself onto one leg and begin hopping madly away. Poland's figure had stopped, and Britain and France did not hear how he had screamed out for Lithuania after he had heard the gunshot followed by his cry of pain. There seemed to be no time for him to dwell on his worry for long, for Poland turned sharply and bolted for the dark wall of the forest to his left.

One other black figure must have been close enough to see the direction Poland had taken, for it as well turned sharply and pursued him into the forest. Another figure swept around, trying to track down Lithuania, who was seen from above retreating towards the forest in a desperate hop occasionally changed to a fast drag across the ground whenever he tripped and fell.

Then, Britain and France watched helplessly as the other two figures sprinted onwards unknowingly ahead. They looked back and forth between the other four figures and the two that just continued running and creating increasingly more distance between themselves and the others.

France murmured, "They're going the wrong way."

"They'll figure it out soon enough," Britain muttered. "I bet that Lithuania and Poland are going to have a hard time keeping quiet."

Britain had seen who had grabbed the weapons, although he had not been present in the room to see who had hopped out the window. Once he had heard the sound of breaking glass, Britain had grabbed the gun from America before snatching onto Finland and pulling him away against his will. France had been about to interfere, but Britain had quickly explained that he wanted to use Finland's renowned skill to take down the culprits.

Upon hearing this plan, Finland had naturally panicked. They arrived back at the front room, and here Britain looked out the windows to find no action going on in the front yard. He knew then that the ones who had jumped outside must be instead dashing through the cemetery. He yanked Finland up the stairs, knowing that the huge window on the fourth floor overlooking the backyard would offer itself as an ideal sniping position.

* * *

Poland raced through the cold, misty forest with hitched breath and the occasional whimper escaping his throat. Black pines burst from the white fog, and he stumbled around them as he fought to get away. His legs stretched out to overtake more distance, and his arms chopped the air with hands clenched straight to liken blades. Poland quickly threw a glance over his shoulder again. Sometimes he saw the pale outline of a figure running after him, but other times, he saw nothing and was temporarily relieved.

He always heard the call, however. This way he knew that his pursuer was never far behind. A ferocious voice screeched out, " _Poland! Get back here! Don't you dare run you disgusting shit!_ "

Poland knew who the voice belonged to, but his mind still cried, _Who is that yelling?_

He stared forward with a grimace of fear planted on his face. His arms pumped desperately, but behind him the silhouette of a tall, running figure and the scythe poised to strike was visible.

" _You're going to pay for everything! I'm going to tear you apart when I get you!_ "

"No!" Poland gasped. "I didn't do anything!"

A high laughter echoed out from behind him. Then a savage scream was emitted, " _Fuck you! I'm going to kill you for what you did!_ "

Poland cried out as his body pulsed with adrenaline. His insides felt white-hot as he sprinted away from the black figure behind him. He heard branches snapping, and he did not dare look back as he shrieked, "Lithuania! Help!"

Poland tried rounding a tree, but then the figure burst from the mist to now be viewed in full detail. Poland gasped as he saw Denmark's contorted face which held huge eyes that were glinting with the essence of homicidal desire. He did not say a word, but he only stared into Poland's terrified green eyes before he swung out the scythe.

He leapt away so that the curved blade sliced cleanly through the space he had just occupied to embed its tip deep into the tree. Poland screamed once again as the seriousness of the other's threats were realized. He tore off in the other direction as Denmark ripped the blade from the bark.

"You're not going anywhere!" Denmark cried. "You're dead!"

Tears washed over the small cuts on Poland's face as he kept fleeing. He breathed heavily, gasping raggedly despite how these sounds only permitted Denmark to continue being glued onto his trail.

" _Dead!_ " The forest rang with the deranged shrieks. " _Dead! Dead! Dead!_ "

Somewhere far behind him, Poland heard Lithuania's bloodcurdling scream. Poland screeched, " _Lithuania!_ " before he swept around to run towards the place where the scream had arisen from.

Denmark pounced out in front of him with a cackle, and Poland curved his body as the blade swung out to meet him. The tip seared through his clothes and neatly cut between his ribs. Poland scrambled away as a patch of wetness spread across his shirt.

"Lithuania! Where are you?" Poland screamed.

"No! Don't come over here!" Lithuania cried out from somewhere close by. "Run! Just keep running!"

Poland charged onwards towards where he had heard Lithuania yelling. He burst out into a small clearing but immediately skidded to a stop with a gasp. A head with mist-soaked glasses tilted up to glare over at the person who had arrived on scene. Poland stared at the emotionless face of Sweden in temporary petrification before his eyes travelled downwards. Lithuania was pressed into the ground under Sweden's heavy foot on his back. Both halves of the shears were wielded by Sweden and were crossed like an X, with Lithuania's cut and heavily bleeding throat trapped between the pressing blades and the ground.

The carpet of leaves exploded behind Poland. He barely had time to glance backwards in horror before the scythe came down and whistled as it cut through the air. Silver slashed through the flesh over Poland's shoulder, and he collapsed with a scream. Blood erupted from the wound that showed the white of bone to all. Poland breathed rapidly as he dragged himself away, but then Denmark hopped forward and smashed a kick into his ribs. Poland's body was thrown to the side. He rolled and attempted to rise, but then Denmark slammed his foot down on his back.

The air rushed from Poland's lungs upon impact. Denmark loomed over him, throwing his arms behind his head to raise the scythe high as he cried shrilly, "You will pay for what you did to my friends!"

Sweden watched on, but Lithuania writhed under his foot screaming, "No! Stop! Please stop!"

Denmark's eyes flashed over to regard Lithuania, who had pulled his arms close to his face so that he could cry into them. A pitiless grin spread across Denmark's face as he uttered, "I see how it is. You two can hurt whoever you want, but if your friend is in danger, we're not allowed to hurt him, now are we?"

Poland's blood drained out onto the dark soil. Lithuania watched his shivering form with pink eyes as his own blood poured over his leg to soak the ground. Around them, the fog circled the area as though its particles were a crowd of eager spectators. Lithuania could see the outlines of trees, but nothing else could be seen beyond that white wall. The world was presently restricted to this one small clearing.

Lithuania moaned, "We didn't do it… I swear! We're innocent! We have nothing to do with this!"

The blades on either side of his neck pressed in further. Lithuania inhaled and tried not to quiver as the metal scraped away his skin and sawed through blood vessels. Sweden growled, "Liars. You hated Russia."

"I wouldn't have hurt him!" Lithuania cried. "No, this isn't our doing!"

Denmark gnashed his teeth as he spat, "How dare you deny your actions still? Are you mocking us? We know you did it! A ghost told us, and you're carrying the keys! You were also late coming back from the scavenger hunt! You were upstairs, and you've always had one another to vouch for each other! I knew that it was more than one person!"

"We're being framed!" Lithuania exclaimed. "Moldova- he's lying!"

"Moldova?" Sweden muttered. "Now you are blaming the kid?"

"Believe us, please!" Lithuania cried. "We didn't do anything!"

Denmark's patience snapped.

"Stop it!" he growled. "Just admit your crimes! We know you're both guilty!"

Poland wailed, "But we're not!"

"Shut up!" Denmark screamed. "I'll fucking kill you for what you did to Norway, Finland, and Iceland!"

Lithuania began to yell, "No, leave him alone!"

Denmark hissed at him with tension, "Say it. Say it, goddamn it. You pieces of shit! Do it or I'll sever his spine!"

Lithuania's jaw dropped. He then said, "No, there's no way you would actually-"

The scythe descended. Lithuania screeched as Denmark slashed the blade into Poland's back and caused a spurt of blood to fly upwards. Poland's eyelids dropped halfway and he went limp. A rough scream continued from Lithuania's throat as Denmark raised the scythe once more. The red-splattered blade came down again with the intention of entering the already opened wound. That was when Lithuania slammed his eyes shut and shrieked, "Okay! Stop! Please- oh god! I admit it!"

Denmark froze. His eyes flashed away from the blood pumping out from the still body before him to look at Lithuania.

"Let him go," Lithuania sobbed. "I'll show you… I'll take you to the prisoners and unlock their chains if you let him go..."

"That's more like it," Denmark muttered. He spat on Poland before pulling him from the ground and setting him onto his wobbly feet. Poland's eyes flickered, and he swayed backwards, bending so that the open mouth of his wound closed. Sweden lifted his foot and grabbed a hold of Lithuania to also throw him upwards. Lithuania hopped for balance, but then Sweden put the handle of one of the hedge clipper halves into his pocket so that one hand was free to snatch Lithuania by the arm.

"We're going back now," Denmark uttered. "It's best for you both if you don't resist… Don't you dare test me. We don't necessarily _need_ you. We can find the prisoners now ourselves, but I suppose some others would like to see you get justice without violence involved."

"We're not going anywhere," Lithuania sighed. He lifted his eyes to give them the sincerest look that he could muster. He tried to look defeated and spiritless to keep Sweden and Denmark from feeling the need to harass them further. Sweden's grip tightened however after he had said this. Lithuania cringed in pain as they headed back, feeling the bruise beginning to sink into his flesh. He decided that he should remain quiet as well so as to not say something that could spark a reaction from the other two, and Poland adopted this mindset as well.

* * *

Canada and Germany had been jogging straight across the cemetery when they heard the screams starting anew. They heard Poland and Lithuania calling out to each other from locations isolated in concealment in the foggy forest, so then Canada and Germany changed their route to head back.

As they went on however, crossing through the field and dodging the oncoming tombstones, the noises that burst from the silent forest were no longer names, but cries of agony. Canada gasped, "Oh no, I knew it! I knew this would happen! We have to stop them!"

A hyper-charged spurt of energy came to Canada, and Germany struggled to keep sight of him as his speed suddenly increased and his clear image became shrouded in the mist. Germany managed to adapt and return to his side as they hurried forward together.

"What do you think they are doing?" Germany gasped.

Canada snapped, "Isn't it obvious? They're going to kill them!"

"No…" Germany breathed. "They wouldn't-"

Canada turned his head and presented him with a disbelieving stare.

* * *

The white wall separated the four of them from Canada and Germany. They did not see each other, and the distance kept them from hearing their footsteps on the grass. As Sweden and Denmark padded out the forest with their captives, Canada and Germany were rushing in. They continued on unbothered, creeping forward slowly due to Lithuania's and Poland's injuries.

They weaved around tombstones in a tense silence for a few minutes. When Poland gasped, he was given hard stares as though he had not had the right to disturb the silence. They all listened to him however as he exclaimed, "Who's that over there?"

Far from them a barely visible, filmy black silhouette stood facing them. Denmark and Sweden stopped and blinked at it. Sweden muttered, "Who is that?"

Denmark called out, "Hey, we got them! You can go back inside now!"

The figure gave them a wave before backing away until it was out of sight. Sweden and Denmark continued escorting Poland and Lithuania for a few more minutes until from far behind them they heard the high, characteristic whistle that is produced with the help of fingers in the mouth.

"What?" Denmark flicked his head back over his shoulder. "Was that the guy…?

"Faster," Sweden said. "This doesn't seem good."

The four of them scrambled onwards, although Sweden and Denmark had lost a significant amount of their aggression. Fear seemed to have found a home in their cores, and they were no longer so preoccupied in maintaining their harsh attitudes towards Lithuania and Poland.

"Wait," Denmark said to them. "Why would someone whistle like that?"

Lithuania whispered, "To call the dogs."

"What?" Sweden growled. "Who is calling them?"

Denmark threw out, "Who else is in on this with you?"

Lithuania remained silent. Denmark and Sweden huffed in frustration, and Denmark said, "We'll find out when we get back anyway."

Their pace picked up and soon, from the mist appeared the dark shape of the mansion. The four of them followed the walls until they came around to the front. China opened the door, and Sweden and Denmark pushed in their injured captives so that they stumbled to a stop before the furious crowd. Lithuania and Poland dropped from fatigue, then looked up nervously as the crowd ringed them once again.

Britain and France stepped forward to stand before the two. Sweden stated from behind Poland and Lithuania, "They confessed to their crimes."

Lithuania's face twisted into one of rage and he now was screaming, "No! I only said all that because you were going to kill Poland if I didn't!"

America padded closer. He cocked his head and said, "What?"

"They're insane!" Lithuania cried. "Look at Poland- that was Denmark! He threatened to sever his spine, and he started doing it until I lied!"

"After what they did to Norway," Iceland grumbled. "I can't say that it matters."

"Whoa!" America gasped. "What the hell? Iceland? What's up with you, dude?"

Lithuania hissed, "The Nordics- the whole lot of them are insane! Someone took advantage of that too! We've been framed, can't you see? We're on the target list, and the culprit has successfully tricked you all again into attacking us!"

Romania swept around to face Moldova. He demanded, "You said you talked to a ghost!"

"It was a ghost!" Moldova protested. "I know what ghosts are like! I have so much experience with them. I promise, he was a ghost!"

"The ghost lied to you then!" Romania cried.

"I know him!" Moldova protested. "He didn't lie!"

Britain interrupted, "We can't trust anything right now. We'll have to question these two first. Let's have them treated then interrogated immediately."

As usual, this job was undertaken by China and Japan. The bullet was removed from Lithuania's leg and the wound was cleaned to the best of their abilities. Both Lithuania and Poland had their open injuries wrapped first before they were released. China and Japan watched them stand with neutral faces.

During this time, Britain had noticed a stiffness in both Denmark and Sweden. He looked at their furrowed eyebrows and tight lips, before he demanded, "What is it?"

Denmark said, "There was someone out there."

"Canada and Germany went out," Britain replied.

Sweden muttered, "The person whistled."

"No one else is out there," Britain continued. "Look, we're all here except for those two."

France then asked worriedly, "Did you not run into Canada and Germany?"

"No," Sweden replied.

America went tense, and he gulped, "They're still out there…"

"They'll be back soon enough," Britain sighed. "I'm sure they'll figure it out and come back."

Lithuania cried, "The culprit is out there! That's who we saw! And they're calling out for the dogs!"

"You two are the culprits though..." Romania murmured.

Italy only exclaimed, "Oh no, we have to help them!"

"But what can we do?" Japan asked. "We cannot see anything! Anyone who goes out there risks getting lost and picked off!"

"They'll manage," Britain sighed. "If all else fails, they can find a safe place and wait for the fog to clear so that we can go fetch them. Now, shall we take care of our own affairs? Germany would want us to continue, so everyone can just continue searching for secret doors. I'll go up with France, Denmark, and Sweden to interrogate these two."

France gathered the long rope that had earlier been used to excessively secure Italy to his chair. Sweden and Denmark collected Poland and Lithuania, holding them by their upper arms. Lithuania and Poland noted a vast difference in the hardness of the grips on them. The hands were more careful as they slowly led the two to be investigated up to the second floor.

Britain had carried up the same chair that had been used for Italy, and they utilized the desk chair waiting in a room down the hall. It was the same room where poltergeist activity had occurred during the first night of their stay at the mansion, but hardly any concern arose over this when the two iron weapons were there with them.

"We can't have anyone sympathizing with them," Britain said after they had split the rope to begin tying Poland and Lithuania to the chairs. "We'll never get anywhere when emotions get in the way."

He stared at the other two that were going to aid him and France in the interrogation. Britain added, "So drop them now, or leave."

"Our emotions?" Denmark asked. Sweden was unsure, but France was sharing the same face of seriousness as Britain now. Denmark and Sweden were surprised by this apparent change that had afflicted France. There seemed to be a quality within him now that had not been there before they had left to pursue Poland and Lithuania.

"Now," Britain nodded. "It already nearly jeopardized our objective to capture Lithuania and Poland. Fortunately, Finland pulled through and shot Lithuania as commanded. Although, Finland still is… But regardless, you should understand my point. Things won't work out successfully if we hold back."

Britain raised a brow when Sweden looked away from the knot he was tying, to glare across the room at him. Sweden uttered, "What did you do to him?"

"We had him shoot someone down is all," Britain replied. "He didn't want to, but like I said, he pulled through in the end."

Sweden dropped the ropes. He said, "You forced him to do that?"

"We had to," France said. "He was not cooperating when it was necessary."

Denmark had also stopped what he was doing. He now asked, "Where is he? Is he alright?"

"He's sitting downstairs." Britain waved his hand. "Still crying."

Sweden dropped the weapons before he bolted from the room. Britain watched him leave, then he flashed his head over to Denmark, who was also proceeding to hurry after him.

"Hey!" Britain called out to Denmark. "You're just going to leave too?"

Denmark glanced back at him, but said nothing as he left as well.

They found Finland collapsed on the mattress on his stomach with his face hidden behind his crossed arms. He shook heavily; his form obvious among the sorrowful and still bodies that had decided to ring him and pay attention to his predicament. Sweden swept to his side, and Sealand shuffled away so that Denmark could also find a spot beside Finland.

"Fin," Sweden whispered. "Talk to me."

Finland spoke into the blankets in a teary, cracking voice, "I'm so terrible… I… I can't forgive myself!"

"Lithuania's okay," Sweden swallowed. "He'll heal."

"He won't forgive me either," Finland sniffed. "But he shouldn't. I succumbed to the pressure… I couldn't stop myself from pulling the trigger!"

Finland dampened the blanket below his face with fresh tears. Sweden's gaze softened and he murmured, "It wasn't your fault."

"It is though!" Finland wailed. "I'm a horrible person! I just did it and I don't know why! I keep seeing it over and over again in my head, and I just keep asking myself, why didn't I stop myself? Why…? I should have thrown that rifle out the window!"

"Don't say that you're a bad person," Sweden whispered. "No, I know you're a good person. It's not your fault; you were pressured into it."

Finland only continued to cry. Sweden stroked his fingers up his spine before rubbing the palm of his hand down his back. He leaned in then murmured, "Do you hear me? It wasn't your fault."

"But it was," Finland sobbed. "I wasn't strong enough. I hurt him, but he was innocent! I know that Lithuania was framed… He would never hurt Estonia! He looked so sad when Belarus was taken too... Why would he be behind this? Can't anyone see this? He and Poland are innocent!"

Heavy stones of guilt sunk within Sweden and Denmark. Denmark clutched his hands tightly, staring at them in fear as though they were demonic and he was contemplating having them chopped off. Sweden continued massaging Finland's back as his sobbing increased.

"Don't cry," Sweden said. "Please… You shouldn't hurt yourself like this."

The tears were pricking Sweden's eyes now, threatening to spill. His voice became more strained as he struggled to hold in his suffering. He said to Finland, "Please don't cry… You've already been through too much."

"I'm horrible," Finland whined again. "I'm such an awful person!"

Sweden squeezed out painfully, "You're not. I promise, you're not."

Finland whimpered, "Sweee…"

Finland pushed himself up and threw himself sideways. His arms locked around Sweden's waist, and he pressed in close while laying his wet face against his side. Sweden was frozen in shock for a few seconds, but once he overcame this, his arms were around him in an instant. His fingers caressed Finland's arms, who then ceased talking so that he could merely cry while holding onto Sweden tightly.

He could not take it any longer. Sweden inhaled brokenly as two tears escaped his eyes and left a long trail of wetness down his cheeks. He whispered, "Don't be sad, Fin. You don't deserve to be hurting."

"I deserve this pain," Finland whispered. He then began to pull away from Sweden's comfort, but Sweden clung to him and brought him back closer.

"Don't say that," Sweden said. "Stop."

"Don't comfort me," Finland murmured. "I did something bad. Let me suffer."

And yet Finland did not try to leave his side. As he said those words, his fingers traced over Sweden's back and stomach as his hands strove to find and clasp each other. He carefully slid himself into his side again while rubbing his cheek over his ribs.

Sweden's voice was even more soft when he whispered, "I could never let you be unhappy."

Finland whimpered in response. He desired to hold onto his misery, but then the one hand caressing his hair and cheek repeatedly convinced him over time to let go of his tremulous hold on his emotions. He broke under the touch, and he began to bawl uncontrollably. The others in the room were startled and they stared at them in absolute confusion, eyes searching for answers to the situation.

"Please," Sweden sniffed again. "You are good. I am the one who has been bad. Not you… No, Finland. You haven't been like me. You cannot say these things."

Finland's tears soaked through Sweden's clothes, allowing him to feel the wetness on his skin. Finland fidgeted and turned constantly, pressing different sides of his face against Sweden while moving an arm to graze his fingers over his front. His touch was delicate so that his fingernails did not scrape his skin but instead left trails of warmth.

Finland's hand paused over his chest, and his fingers spread to rest in the gaps between the ribs. Despite his spasming lungs and pained throat, Finland whined to Sweden, "Is any of this even real?"

Sweden's heart wrenched, but Finland continued before he could answer.

"It's like a dream… everything is. It's all so scary and unreal… like there's no way something like this could possibly exist. Everyone seems so warped, a-and the things that exist here are pieces of nightmares that I would never dream of. Why is it this way? Everywhere's so cold… I hear things in the night, and there are shadows of all kinds in the day. There are demon animals that eat human flesh, and an evil person who is taking us one-by-one. This person… they're reaching into us all and pulling out our cores. They showed me who I am… but when I look at it, it still doesn't feel real."

"That's not who you are inside," Sweden murmured. "It was only a mistake… You are better than this. That isn't real. It doesn't exist."

"But it is cold, isn't it?" Finland asked. "And there are scary things everywhere."

"Yes."

"This nightmare is just life then," Finland sniffed. "I can't wake up… You can't wake up. We're not safe… We might actually die."

"We won't die," Sweden said.

"Can you imagine that?" Finland asked as he raised his eyes to look at Sweden's chin. "Dying here, and never seeing home again…?"

Denmark said, "Fin… It won't happen. We'll get out of here. We'll go home."

Finland's crying resumed. He sobbed, "I want to go home so badly! Oh, I must be terrible for thinking about leaving all the time when my friend is captured! B-But I'm so scared that I'm never going to see my home and little Hanatamago again… Poor Hana! I want to see her… I want to cuddle her so much, and I want to just feel her soft fur again! I can't stop dreaming about her…"

"I miss her too," Sweden whispered as tears unseen by Finland ran down his face.

"But Estonia!" Finland wailed. "He'll die if I leave! And Prussia, Hungary, Belarus, and Russia! I-I can't do it… They want to go home too."

"You _are_ good," Sweden stressed. "Don't you see?"

Finland squeezed out, "Are you sure?"

"I already promised it," Sweden said. "But I promise you again that you are good and that nothing is your fault."

Finland nodded against his chest. He sighed, "Alright, I believe you…"

Sweden trembled and Finland blinked his sore eyes in surprise. He glanced up once more to see Sweden's wavering lips and tightly closed eyes. Tears were escaping through Sweden's eyelashes as he breathed out with difficulty, "But I've hurt people, and I don't know what's been overtaking me."

The others closest to them watched in utter awe as Sweden dipped his head and started to weep over Finland. That was when Finland's tears stopped as he was shocked by the emotions that were seeping out from the other. His heart pounded as adrenaline brought by fear attacked him. Finland rose onto his knees to place his head over his shoulder while pressing his torso against his as he hugged Sweden fiercely.

"Swede- Swe… Don't cry too," Finland whimpered.

He pressed the side of his face against his. Sweden titled his head to press back against Finland's hot cheek. Finland was taken back at how instantly the extra closeness had shattered Sweden's sorrow, for his tears ceased and he relaxed in the hug. Sweden made a sound deep in his throat that was higher than anything Finland would have expected Sweden to be capable of producing.

Finland's chest ached at the sound. He very slowly leaned to the side until he brought them both falling onto the mattress. One of his hands reached up to find a pillow, then he dragged it close and encouraged Sweden to place his head upon it by lightly touching the pillow against his hair. Sweden slipped off his glasses and put them to the side, then closed his eyes and settled as Finland draped a blanket over their forms.

Finland took another pillow for himself before he slipped back close. He looked over Sweden's face, which had started to twitch again. Finland's eyebrows dipped, and then he found himself doing something he had never done before. He reached out and stroked his hand down the side of Sweden's face. The gentle touch worked like a spell upon the other, and Sweden was calm again. Finland snuck in then to lay alongside him. When he inhaled deeply, the sweet scent of pine trees returned to him.

Finland thought, _Every single thing is real_.

Then he whispered to Sweden, "We'll get out of here. Everything will be okay."

Sweden only remained silent.

* * *

Canada and Germany had heard the whistle floating through the mist. They froze to listen to it until its final note thinned out and disappeared. They then looked to each other, both understanding in that moment that they both had heard the human aspect in that sound.

Germany uttered, "That was the culprit."

They started to run. They stumbled in fearful frustration around the trees that popped up constantly, crashing occasionally into solid barriers of bark in their desperation to get back out into the open that was the cemetery. The silence pressed in around them, making their small hairs rise as they imagined a sound swimming through this mist, trying to find them.

"What do we do?" Germany gasped. "How much time do we have?"

Canada replied, "The dogs should be far away. We should have time to get back to the mansion!"

They leapt out onto the field of long grass whose blades reached out and soaked through their shoes and the skin just up past their ankles. They had scarcely taken a few steps out from the forest when a massive beast dove from the mist with outstretched arms and a parted, salivating mouth. It collided into Canada's side and took him down to the ground.

Canada yelped as the gnashing teeth were halted just centimetres before his throat. Germany had his arms wrapped around the creature's neck, and his hold tightened as he attempted to strangle it. He felt the fur against his skin and its tensing muscles as it struggled. Germany grunted as he stepped backwards while trying to contain the growling, savage monster in his arms. He pulled its weight off Canada, allowing him to jump to his feet and deliver a kick to the face that was currently occupied in trying to reach backwards and bite Germany.

There was a high yap that was followed by another as Germany lifted the body higher so Canada could hop in and smash a kick into its chest. Germany then caught a glimpse of the dark tree through the white haze, so he yelled out, "That tree! Run, now!"

He threw the dog to the ground and left it breathing heavily on its side. As Germany and Canada sprinted away, its legs stirred before it carefully got back up to its feet. As it stood, a current of other powerful, snarling creatures flowed around it as though it was a stone splitting the current in a powerful river. As the multiple echoes of growling reached their ears, Canada and Germany whipped back their heads to see a throng of dark shapes becoming clearer as they neared them.

The forerunners broke through the wall into the visible ring, and their yellow and gray pelts with lighter underbellies became identifiable. Behind them, more forms seemed to just keep appearing. Four became ten. Ten became twenty. Germany and Canada could not bare to keep watching how this number just kept increasing, and so they looked forward at the tree with thundering hearts.

Germany hurled himself upwards and wrapped his arms around a thick branch. He heaved his mass around it then jumped away onto a higher branch as Canada leapt upwards. Canada's hands slapped onto the bark and he was halfway pulling himself up when his face exploded into shock. Germany's eyes and mouth widened as Canada's head ducked back down under the branch with a screech following it.

Jaws had snapped onto his calves, jerking him downwards with swift flicks of heads. More fangs flashed before burying themselves deep into muscle. Canada's screams heightened with every mouth that launched forward to taste his blood, shed, and tear away his flesh. His fingernails scraped the bark as his hands slipped around the branch. His eyes flicked up to the sky and he let in a single deep inhale before he was ripped away from the branch.

Germany's hands snatched onto his wrists. His feet were hooked on the second higher branch, and his chest pressed over the lowest branch. Canada's body had dropped significantly, and Germany watched with a face shocked with horror how the pack jumped for the fresh, untouched flesh. Germany groaned as he lifted Canada and the weight of the clinging dogs so that the other jaws missed Canada's gut and instead bit into his thighs. Germany still grimaced as Canada convulsed and screamed as his clothes and skin was torn off every part of his legs.

Germany's muscles bulged as they strained to pull Canada away from them. Canada's shoulders popped as he felt his muscles being pulled painfully, and he looked up at Germany hopelessly as tears flashed down his face. Red parted from him, in strands and as droplets that showered the excited crowd below him. His calves were raked away so that the white of his bones were exposed, and the teeth were frantically trying to reduce his quadriceps and hamstrings to the same state.

"Germany," Canada whispered in a wavering, terrified voice. "Don't let go… Please, don't let go of me…"

Germany's hands felt wet from the mist and his own sweat, but he clung on with all of his strength. He pulled backwards, bringing Canada's body higher so that his hands could reach the branch once again. Canada weakly placed his hands on it and tried to pull himself up, but the strength for such a feat was gone from him. Germany yanked Canada higher, until his elbows were hovering over the branch.

A few dogs fell away as the skin ripped and they lost their holds on Canada. One hit the ground, but instantly launched upwards to puncture Canada's hip and scrape its fangs against his pelvis. Germany started to swing Canada to the side as well so that the final dog would be pressed against the trunk. Eventually it dropped as well, and once all the extra weight had disappeared, Germany hauled Canada higher so that the upwards surge of open, seeking jaws missed him this time.

Germany struggled to get Canada onto the third thick branch that gave them more distance from the teeth that before had been barely missing the soles of their feet. Both were gasping heavily as they collapsed over their own branches. Canada fell onto his back over his thick branch to allow his arms and legs to dangle limply. The dogs below growled and presented them with aggressively bared teeth, where some were white while others were red. It seemed that Canada's limbs were teasing them as well, for they hopped upwards relentlessly for them, and grew frustrated when they could not come close to reaching.

Germany's eyes wandered to stare over Canada. What he saw caused his jaw to hang and a frightened gasp to escape from him. Germany could not contain his panic, and so he cried out, "Oh my god, Canada!"

Canada was quiet for a moment before hen realized that he had been referred to. He turned his head to the side to gaze at Germany with half-lidded eyes, then he asked, "What is it?"

Canada found that Germany's eyes were not meeting his. This was because Germany's gaze had locked upon Canada's skinless legs with their blood-soaked, ravaged muscles, where strips dangled uselessly and here and there deep punctures poked darker holes into his wounds. In some cases, the red was gone to show only spots of bone.

"Your legs…" Germany uttered.

Canada murmured, "I can't feel anything."

Blood ran down his legs, pouring out from higher wounds and leaking into the lower ones that were also sprinkling drops from the tree to the ground or onto the restless dogs. Canada twisted his body so that he could take a look at himself. His face was soon thrown into an expression that showed absolute panic, and he let out a wail of terror.

"Oh no! Oh my- oh no, no, no, no!"

Canada trembled and felt his body become overwhelmed by hot fear. His breathing became irregular as he was caught staring at his grotesque injuries.

"Canada, calm down!" Germany cried. "Don't panic, you'll be alright! You will heal!"

Canada moaned and tossed his head to the side. His eyes found the crowd of fur below that eagerly waited for the chance to sink their teeth into him again. He whined upon seeing them again, and then he looked back up to the sky.

It was apparent that Canada was unable to tap into his logical mindset at that moment, so Germany called out, "Raise your legs against the trunk, Canada! You have to slow down your bleeding!"

Canada slowly slid his damaged feet up the trunk as instructed. Germany tested his weight on the thick branch Canada was stretched out upon, but it did not react to his additional weight. He set his feet down on the branch and set his lower back against a thinner one to hold himself upright. Germany then pulled off his shirt and used it to wrap around Canada's right lower leg and apply pressure. The shirt soon became thoroughly drenched, but Germany did not give up on it, and he only continued to switch to press down on different spots.

Canada seemed to relax more now that Germany was beside him and treating him, even if the treatment was minimally effective. He knew that he would have to rely on his own body to recover, and that the renowned fast-healing ability innate to nations would have to save him. However, the weakness that he felt in him was highly concerning, and it caused him to ask Germany in a whisper, "Do you think I'll be okay?"

"Yes," Germany muttered. He flashed his eyes over to meet Canada's, and he felt pity etch itself into his gut when he saw the legitimate worry in his eyes.

Germany affirmed, "You'll heal. People like us can survive this."

"I feel so tired," Canada whispered. "A lot of blood is coming out of me still, right Germany? That's… not good. I'm alive… I need blood to live. There's a limit for us too, isn't there?"

"You won't hit that limit," Germany replied. "Now don't worry. Just try to keep conscious, alright? Fight to stay awake."

"I can't…" Canada sighed. His legs started to slide downwards. Germany put his arm out so that Canada's bloody, sock-covered ankles fell onto his forearm.

"Someone will come for us," Germany said. "They'll take us inside to get your wounds wrapped up. Maybe too, by the time we get inside, they will have found the way into the secret passages, and they will have won the game. Then we can leave, and I'll get you taken to the hospital."

"That sounds nice," Canada murmured. "I hope that they'll find everyone okay. I don't want anyone to be hurt again. This is too much. This game is pure evil, and I want us to beat it and be happy again."

"I promised a long time ago that this is the only way we are leaving," Germany said. "All of us, together. We'll get help, go home, and get over this with each other. I promised."

"I know you promised," Canada said as his eyes began to close. "But sometimes promises are broken by a third party. Although it is in no way your fault, and you should not be blamed, the promise is still broken."

"Why wouldn't we get out together?" Germany asked. "I know you'll get through this, after all, you are one of the strongest here."

"It is likely that I will get through this," Canada replied as he glanced at what Germany was doing with his legs. "But I am worried about the others."

"We'll beat the deadline," Germany assured him.

"What if it's already too late?" Canada asked. "Remember what Britain said? There's only four people to save. I'm scared that one of the missing people has already perished."

"You didn't agree with him before. The blood loss is just making you think strangely."

Canada did not deny it. At first, Germany was glad that he seemed to have agreed that the hypothesis would turn out false, but then he looked at Canada's face and saw that it was completely relaxed. Germany gasped and grabbed him by the chin to shake his head side-to-side. Canada's head flopped to both sides, but he did not respond at all. Germany checked his pulse and he observed that Canada was still breathing, but Germany's own heart rate only increased. Canada was dangerously weak and no longer aware of the world around him. Germany's stress only increased as he looked from the dogs to the thick mist that enclosed them in an isolated bubble.

* * *

France closed the door as he followed Britain out into the hall. They temporarily left Poland and Lithuania alone in order to privately discuss the results of their interrogation.

"They don't seem to be lying," Britain said. "They were framed."

"Then Moldova lied," France replied.

"I do not think that he lied," Britain continued. "I think he truthfully conveyed the information that he was told, to us."

"He ran off to talk to 'Ghost'," France said. "But who is this 'Ghost'?"

"Moldova is certain that Ghost is a ghost," Britain said. "And as Romania's brother, I am certain that he would not be mistaken about the energy he would feel being emitted from a supernatural being."

"He must be familiar with it too, because he went off to find it and get information."

" _Him_ ," Britain stressed. "Moldova is quite familiar with his identity. I also presume that he knew about this 'Ghost' before the game started. He must have met him during the week before, when he was visiting his brother's new house."

France said, "We need to talk to him."

Britain replied, "I can stay here and guard these two then."

"Okay."

"Oh, and make sure everyone's still working down there. Tell anyone who's not doing anything to get on it."

France agreed again, before he departed. His pace was a hurried walk so that he appeared as fully serious as Britain. As he came down the stairs, he gathered the attention of many. They paused for a moment from their labor in expectation.

America asked, "So?"

"They appear to be innocent," France replied. "And victims of being framed. Moldova, come with me. We want you to do some explaining."

Moldova padded away from Romania and Bulgaria to come up in front of France. Some eyes hardened on his small form in suspicion as he headed away.

France gazed back up to the others from over Moldova's head. He called out, "Everyone needs to continue tearing this room apart. We don't have time to waste!"

They nodded in affirmation before continuing to stab and smash whatever floor and wall they encountered. The destruction had already extended out from the room, and was now occurring out in the halls and in the kitchen. France watched them for a few moments, and then he noticed the few in the center of the circle who were immobile.

France came up to them. The micronations looked up worriedly as he bent over them like a disapproving parent. France said, "Why aren't you doing anything?"

The three micronations hopped up to recollect their knives and scamper away to find someplace to jab them into. Denmark, Iceland, and Norway were hesitant, but then Iceland and Norway got to their feet and left. Denmark looked after them, but he did not get up from his sitting slump.

"Why aren't you working?" France questioned him.

Denmark's hands slid down his shins as he replied, "I need a break."

"You can't be tired," France pressed. "You can contribute in some way."

"I got you Poland and Lithuania," he muttered. "Although I wish I hadn't. So, I decided that I'm not going to go fuck up anything else today."

"You would be helping!" France protested.

Denmark uttered, "That's what you guys say about everything. But I'm done… Just leave me alone for once."

"No, everyone has to help-"

Denmark slapped his hand against his face, and France was surprised by the strained voice that came from Denmark as he said, "Please just… go away!"

France looked over at the two shapes beside Denmark that were lying down silently under a blanket. Sweden and Finland appeared to be sleeping, but France knew enough to understand that they were not really. They were listening, but they decided to say nothing and to just remain undisturbed while they held each other.

France sighed then walked away. He took Moldova up the stairs with him to go back to where Britain was waiting. Once they reached him, Britain opened the door and led them all in.

"Now let's figure this all out," Britain said. Poland and Lithuania, who sat in chairs that were back-to-back with each other, turned their heads simultaneously to glance at Moldova. Immediately they glared, and Moldova started to tremble at the sight of their pink-patched, bandaged injuries.

Poland spat, "You little brat! Why did you accuse us?"

Moldova looked as though he was on the verge of tears. He replied, "Be-Because… Ghost told me about the keys and that you were the one carrying them!"

"Is everyone stupid?" Lithuania uttered. "Those aren't real keys. They are a part of his costume!"

"No they're not!"

Britain cut in, "Why don't you tell us about Ghost, Moldova?"

"You don't trust him?" Moldova gasped. "But he's so nice and honest!"

France asked, "When exactly did you meet him?"

"I met Ghost the first time I came here," Moldova said. "I was exploring, and I came into his bedroom. We introduced ourselves…"

The memory came back to him, fresh and clear after just having been created a little more than a week ago. He watched all the events play by in his head, and as this happened, he picked out all the important details to explain to the others.

* * *

 _"Wow, you must be a powerful spirit! I can see you so clearly!"_

 _A young man had appeared so suddenly. Moldova had been looking at the bed in one moment, and then in the next, he had turned around to see this stranger standing just behind him. He ran his eyes up his form quickly, identifying old-fashioned folk clothing of another culture, then he analyzed this man's clean-shaven face, black hair, and very pale eyes whose irises' colour could be seen clearly in this light, a pale purple._

 _The man had smiled a polite, white smile at him. His voice was a low whisper, and there seemed to be an accent hidden in his Romanian reply, "I am powerful, little one. I have been here a long time, and I have become very attached to this mansion."_

 _"How old are you?"_

 _He laughed lightly, and replied, "Very old."_

 _"Me too!" Moldova exclaimed. "I'm very old! I'm a nation, you see!"_

 _"Oh, you are one of them. How exciting!" the stranger exclaimed, but still in a quiet way. "I've never gotten the honor to meet one of you. Which nation are you, then?"_

 _"I'm Moldova!" he chirped. "And what's your name?"_

 _The young man, who Moldova was now imagining to be around twenty, sighed sadly. He said, "I'm afraid it's been so long. I do not remember it."_

 _"You don't? Oh no!" Moldova gasped._

 _"It's alright." The smile came back to him. "I haven't had a need for one, so that's why."_

 _"But I want to call you something!" Moldova cried. "This is my brother's house, so I'll be over all the time! I'd like to meet you again!"_

 _"You are very nice, Moldova. You can just call me Ghost then. I don't need anything fancy, and that's about all I know about myself."_

 _Moldova's skin felt chilled, and as it usually was when in the presence of a supernatural being, he could feel his own energy being drained. It was not so much that was taken away, but still enough to be noticed._

 _"Okay, Ghost!"_

 _Ghost continued, "Say, I'm not going anywhere any time soon. Would you like to get a tour of the estate?"_

 _"I would like that a lot!"_

 _Ghost nodded, and Moldova followed him out into the hall. Ghost's footsteps were silent on the carpet, while Moldova's dragged slightly. As they walked across the property, Moldova turned his head to look in both directions in case he would locate another spirit._

 _Eventually, Moldova asked, "So how many of you are there here?"_

 _"Many," Ghost replied. "There are those who died here, who are all quite calm and pleasant, and then there are some who drop by from the cemetery now and then."_

 _"That sounds nice."_

 _Ghost nodded again, before he started to describe the designs of the wood, carpet, and paintings to Moldova. They covered the floors one-by-one, and Moldova's head eventually began to feel heavy and full of information._

 _Later, Ghost said, "It is a truly beautiful place. I am glad that the presence of us ghosts does not bother you."_

 _"Of course not!" Moldova nodded furiously. "You're just people! I'm not afraid of you!"_

 _"Sometimes…" Ghost frowned. "There are some bad ones. You have to be careful about them."_

 _"Are there any of those ones here?"_

 _"No, not here."_

 _He walked with Ghost for more than an hour. As more time passed, he kept looking at Ghost in admiration, intrigued that he had not yet faded away. Moldova felt the need to reaffirm, "You are very powerful, Ghost! I've never seen a ghost who's been able to keep a visible form for so long before!"_

 _"Thank you," he replied. "I won't just disappear on you without saying goodbye first. I'll let you know when I'm starting to feel weak."_

 _They continued on further. Ghost took him upstairs and introduced him to the music room. Moldova was in awe as he regarded the organ piano, and so he grazed his hand over the piano keys without feeling the need to press down. He walked over to check out the shelves against the wall where boxes of instruments lay untouched. He did not touch them either, and he instead looked at the music books hanging around that had not been put away. These he opened to look at the complicated streams of notes filling the pages._

 _"This room's cool!" Moldova proclaimed as he set the music book back in its original place. "I wonder if Romania has seen this room yet?"_

 _"He has," Ghost replied. "I saw him go in here."_

 _"Really?"_

 _"Whenever I cannot take form, I like to watch."_

 _Moldova laughed and said, "I hope not in the bathroom too!"_

 _Ghost smiled and replied, "No, I know enough at least that would be vulgar!"_

 _Moldova liked that he and Ghost could laugh about this together. It was simple lightheartedness. His liking for Ghost increased ever more so for it._

 _Ghost soon said however, "Ah, I feel it coming. I'll fade away soon, so goodbye, Moldova. It was nice meeting you."_

 _"Likewise! It was fun being with you!"_

 _Moldova waved before he skipped out of the room._

* * *

 _Moldova slept over at Romania's house for the next few days. Then, one morning, he raised his eyes to see Ghost at the end of the hall where it rounded the corner._

 _They greeted each other._

 _"Hi, Ghost!"_

 _"Good morning, Moldova."_

 _Romania was staying in the library at that time working. The mansion was peacefully quiet as Moldova and Ghost headed down the stairs to the front room._

 _Moldova asked him, "So you really don't remember your life?"_

 _"No," Ghost replied. "But I've had a long afterlife here in the mansion. I get to see all the people, and in a way, I get to live their lives as I see what they do."_

 _"Me too?"_

 _"Yes. It's like I get to be a part of the family. I hear what's going on in your lives. It gets personal, and it takes away my boredom."_

 _"I heard there were years where the house was empty. Was it boring?"_

 _Ghost replied, "It was. Oh, how I love excitement. The more people here, the better."_

 _Moldova frowned and said, "I'm afraid it'll just be Romania once I go home, but maybe he would like to be your friend!"_

 _"I should introduce myself to him sometime then. Give him a warm surprise."_

 _"Yeah! That'd be great."_

 _Moldova decided then that he would stay quiet about Ghost so that Romania's surprise would not be ruined._

 _Ghost then asked, "Does Romania have friends who might come over?"_

 _"Sure. I think he and Bulgaria have been getting along lately, so you might see him sometime. Then maybe some others will come over for business, so you will see some more nations too."_

 _"He is not so social then?"_

 _"Well, he's just not as big as a country as the others. The focus isn't really on him, you know."_

 _"That's no excuse." Ghost smiled nicely at him. "You should help him get to know the others better."_

 _"How?"_

 _"He has a new, interesting house. Perhaps he could offer to show the others? He could invite people over."_

 _"Yeah," Moldova nodded. "He should tell others about this place. It's so cool and creepy!"_

 _"Very creepy for everyone except you two."_

 _"Haha, that's right."_

 _"Hey," Ghost said. "It's almost Halloween, isn't it?"_

 _"Yes! And I'm so excited! It's my favorite holiday…"_

 _Ghost continued, "What if he invited some others over for a party? That would be exciting."_

 _Moldova gasped, "What a great idea! Romania should offer to host this year's Halloween party here! It's the perfect place!"_

 _Ghost admitted, "I would love to get to see all the other nations."_

 _"You will! We'll invite so many people!" Moldova chirped. "It'll be so much fun! Ah- I'll tell Romania right away!"_

 _He quickly said his farewell to Ghost before he scrambled down the hall to find Romania._

* * *

 _The third time Moldova saw Ghost, he had a large supply of Halloween decorations spread out across the floor in the main room on the first level; Romania was out of the house for the moment, and Moldova was left in charge of the decorating. He had been staring at everything with his brain burning as it struggled for ideas, until Ghost surprised him by popping up at his side._

 _"Is this everything?" Ghost asked._

 _Moldova replied, "Romania said that we'll get more things."_

 _"Can I be of assistance?"_

 _"Yes, thank you!"_

 _Ghost began indicating items and then pointing off in certain directions. He explained colour scheme ideas, and the importance of filling the spaces. Moldova hurried to and fro, carrying the decorations and hanging, stretching, or placing them exactly as Ghost had instructed him to. Once he had taken care of these things, Moldova had stepped back to the front door to get a full view of everything that he had done. He was thoroughly impressed, and he told this to Ghost._

 _"You should put decorations in other rooms," Ghost replied._

 _"Should I?" Moldova cocked his head._

 _"They should see more of the mansion, don't you think?"_

 _"Oh yeah, that would be cool!" Moldova agreed. "We could have them wander around on a scavenger hunt game then!"_

 _"Scavenger hunt? What is that?"_

 _Moldova quickly explained the game to Ghost. Ghost nodded, and said, "That sounds interesting."_

 _Moldova stretched before heading to the kitchen for a snack. Around the corner, Moldova rubbed his arms to warm them up after having been exposed to Ghost's coldness for so long. He did not want Ghost to see him, so he only did it while he was out of sight. He finished doing this before Ghost stopped at the doorway to watch him._

 _Ghost said, "You will need a lot of food for all those people."_

 _"Yeah, Romania said he would help with the baking! And Bulgaria too!"_

 _"Did you make a list of who is going to come?"_

 _Moldova replied, "Yeah! Romania put it up on Twitter, and already so many have said that they'll come. We have sixty so far!"_

 _"The big countries?"_

 _"Let's see, we have the Germanics, France, Britain, Canada, and America… the Nordics, oh- lots of Asian and Oceanic nations, then… hmm…"_

 _Ghost asked, "What about the other countries close by? Ukraine?"_

 _"She's coming."_

 _Ghost said softly, "Will Russia be there?"_

 _"Yes," Moldova nodded, with a bit of a chill running down his spine as he responded. "He's Ukraine's brother, and then Belarus is their sister too. They're all coming."_

 _"I did not know that," Ghost said._

 _Soon after, Ghost said goodbye to Moldova before he left the kitchen. After a few seconds, Moldova popped his head out of the room to see him silently ascending the stairs._

 _Moldova did not see Ghost again until eight days later._

* * *

"Why did you never say anything?" Britain muttered. "Didn't you realize how suspicious he was? That he used you to get the answers he wanted?"

"He didn't use me!" Moldova protested. "He was just nice and curious. He's bored here, so I thought he'd like to have someone to talk to. You know, because not all ghosts are conscious so…"

"But he's the culprit!" Lithuania cried.

France frowned and said, "But how is that possible, if he really is a ghost?"

Britain touched his hand against his chin. He said, "Right. A person wrote the notes, harmed the missing people, read _Lord of the Flies_ , trained a pack of dogs to kill, and is using the secret passages to make people disappear."

"If there are any secret passages!" Poland objected.

Moldova reaffirmed, "Ghost didn't do it! The culprit must have only overheard us! Ghost is a ghost!"

"I trust that," Britain said. "But that doesn't explain why he would lie to you."

"He never lied! Poland and Lithuania are guilty!"

Poland and Lithuania threw back in harmony, "No, we're not!"

"They were framed," Britain explained to Moldova. "So that means Ghost lied, or was under control and forced to do it."

"No…" Moldova whimpered. "You're wrong!"

Lithuania said, "He's a bad guy, and he tricked you. Can't you understand?"

Moldova whined, "But I thought that he was my friend…"

"That was the point," Britain sighed.

"But if they're innocent"- Moldova pointed at Lithuania and Poland- "Then why did they run?"

"I saw how everyone was looking at us," Lithuania spat. "They were not willing to listen to reason. Two of them was bad enough. If all of them had gotten the chance to get their hands on us when they were in _that_ mood, then we'd be dead right now."

At that moment they heard footsteps rapidly approaching from down the hall. France and Britain clenched their weapons, but then America only popped into the room. He had only found their location after having had heard their voices.

Britain asked, "Did you find something?"

"Er no, not yet," America replied. "It's just that, people started arguing, and we can't reach a decision. Some of us want to go out to find Canada and Germany, but others are saying it's too dangerous."

"I already said that it was too dangerous to go out!" Britain exasperated.

America stirred uncomfortably as he said, "I think we should go out though, dude. Three people, with the scythe, shovel, and gun. I was thinking that because the wolves- er, dogs, are around, that Canada and Germany might be in some serious trouble."

"They're probably safe in a tree," France said. "We'll take on the dogs after the fog has cleared and we can see."

"I don't think it's going to clear up anytime soon," America said. "We have to go out there and get them. Think about if they're injured. We can't just leave them stuck up in a tree until the next morning. They'll freeze too!"

"Fine, I see your point," Britain said, and he looked at the others, then added, "France, stay here. Moldova, you can go down now."

Britain walked away at America's side, with Moldova scampering after them. Britain frowned once he came down the stairs enough so that he could see that many people had stopped working and were now staring at each other while tapping their feet.

As Moldova returned to Romania, Britain announced, "We will send out three people to get Germany and Canada."

"I'll go," America said.

Promptly after, Japan and China had also offered themselves up as volunteers.

"No more arguing," Britain said. "We don't have the time."

He took a brief glance at the fallen clock after having had said this. Britain then watched the others return to work with intense worry carved into their faces as the three announced to go outside gathered their weapons and then hurried out into the fog. Finally, Britain noticed that three people were not working at all.

Britain came over with purposefully heavy footsteps before he stopped before the mattress. Denmark turned his head slightly and peered up at him with narrowed eyes.

"What are you three doing?" Britain demanded. "Get to work!"

"No," Denmark muttered.

"No? What do you mean, no? We are in a stressful situation and we need your help!"

"We know you've gone nuts," Denmark said. "So we're not going to listen to you."

Britain said calmly, "It doesn't matter who says it. It's the right thing to do."

Denmark tossed his head to the side.

"You didn't deny it."

Britain scoffed, "Insane? I am not. You must have picked up that thought from Canada."

"You have no emotions," Denmark said. "It's weird, and creepy."

"I'm trying to avoid emitting negative energy," Britain replied steadily. "And I'm keeping my emotions from getting the better of me. We have jobs to do, so I will do them without any interference."

"You're insensitive," Denmark explained. "You don't care about anyone right now."

"Yes, but because if I got caught up on something, it would hinder my ability to think rationally."

"Are you serious?" Denmark's eyes widened.

"Quite."

"So, you don't _care_ about Poland or Lithuania? You don't regret anything?"

Britain said, "We cannot waste our time apologizing or crying. We need answers, and now we have them. It's simple."

"And Germany and Canada? And the other three?"

"I do not want them to get hurt," Britain said. "That would slow us down. In fact, sending out America, China, and Japan is already slowing us down, because now we have fewer people here searching the mansion for secret doors. However, if they're quick in bringing them back, then the extra two pairs of hands would be appreciated."

"What?" Denmark protested. "So it's not like you care if they're hurt? I mean, that you feel bad that they're in pain? You just don't want to waste time?"

"There would be no point in me feeling upset."

"It's just human to feel emotions!" Denmark hissed. "If we can't feel them, then we're just insane!"

Britain shook his head and sighed all-knowingly, "Then we can't afford to be human."

Britain was surprised when he found Sweden suddenly standing in front of him. He had no time to react before a punch smashed his face and caused him to stumble backwards. Sweden gave him a tap on the chest that pushed him over so that he fell backwards onto the blankets that barely cushioned his collision against the hardwood floor.

Hot pain blossomed around his eye and the back of his head as he lay on the ground as though paralyzed. No one came to his aid, and no one gave any sign of reaction. Those who had heard the argument looked the other way after having had seen what had occurred. Sweden stalked away from Britain and slithered in under the blanket. He recollected Finland and curled around him, closing his eyes and breathing slowly like before, as though he had never left him.

* * *

Now that Britain was gone, France's air of seriousness had toned down now that he did not have to keep up to Britain's expectation. He stood closer to Poland and Lithuania as he talked to them in a more casual way this time.

Lithuania sighed before he admitted, "I was happy because I thought it was over. When I saw them chasing Russia, I felt so relieved. I remember thinking to myself that finally, we'd get everyone out and go home. I just really wanted it to be Russia. I was so sure that it was him at one point, but then... it just wasn't. Even if my life with him was terrible, I've come to realize after his disappearance that he is not capable of doing these acts."

France said, "We weren't thinking right. We fell into the trap that the culprit set up. Now that we are aware of that trap, we wonder how we ever walked into it without realizing a thing. Now it seems wrong to think that Russia could have done all this. There were so many flaws in our accusations."

"I kind of forgot that Belarus was his sister," Lithuania said. "I mean, I knew it… but for some reason it didn't click. I thought that because Russia doesn't feel comfortable around her usually, that he didn't like her… But now that just seems wrong to think. They're still family, and he does care about her."

"If we find Russia," France sighed. "We're all going to have to make a huge effort to make everything up to him somehow."

From behind France, the doorway was suddenly filled by a mass. There now stood a figure cloaked in black who also wore a grinning zombie mask with long, matted gray hair. Poland and Lithuania were stunned for one crucial second, and so they were late in warning France.

Poland screamed while Lithuania shouted, "Behind you!"

France whipped around with the hedge clipper blade rising, but before he could put his weapon to use, the hands that were raised over the masked head smashed downwards. The rock clenched between those hands struck France's skull, and he was felled without a sound.

The person in black slammed the door closed with a whack of the heel. A black-gloved hand reached behind to turn the lock while the mask continued to face them. France stirred and looked at the standing figure as he reached for the blade he had dropped. The person snapped their arms downwards and hit France's head again with the rock. By now Lithuania and Poland were screaming for help as this person nailed France repeatedly until he no longer moved and blood splotched his hair.

" _Get up here right now!_ " Lithuania screeched so that those on the floor below could hear him. " _The culprit is here! Help us!_ "

The rock thudded onto the floor. The cloak fluttered around covered ankles as the person swept out of Lithuania's sight to approach Poland. Poland stopped screaming and instead began to whimper, "Oh no, oh no… Lithuania…"

Lithuania shouted, "What do you want from us? Leave us alone!"

Poland's eyes widened as the person in front of him extracted a syringe from under the fold of their cloak. He cried out, "No- what? No! Get away! Don't do it-"

Lithuania heard Poland gasp. Poland whimpered to him, "He just put a needle in me… Lithuania…"

Lithuania thrashed madly against his binds. He screamed, " _Help! Somebody! Help us!_ "

He choked when he heard dragging behind him followed by Poland's lethargic murmur of, "Lithuania… He's taking me away…"

"No!" Lithuania shrieked. "Poland! No! No! Stop! Leave us alone!"

Poland ceased talking, although the sliding of the chair across the floor continued. Lithuania fought against the ropes, tearing his flesh and bursting blood over them just as Russia had once done when held by these same ropes. The chair rocked back and forth in his struggle, until finally it tilted too far over and Lithuania yelled out in pain as he and the chair smashed against the floor.

His eyes flashed up to see France's still form. Blood was still leaking from him, and his lips were still parted slightly behind one of his limp hands. Lithuania still had no view as to what was happening behind him, but he was now hearing a different sliding sound across the carpet.

" _Help!_ " Lithuania screamed.

The locked door banged as someone outside yanked the handle desperately. Lithuania strained his eyes to look at the door, but then something jabbed into his skin. The feeling of hot plastic entering his arteries came to him, and then the emptied syringe was carelessly left sticking out from his shoulder. Lithuania heard someone outside the room exclaiming in a panic that the door was locked, but by then the chair was already upright and he was being dragged swiftly backwards across the room.

Blackness spread across his vision. He saw himself getting pulled further away from France, and the last sound he heard was that of splintering wood before he started to fade from consciousness. In the final moment before he was temporarily disconnected from the world, a single thought ran through his mind.

 _What will happen to us now?_


	15. In Those Final Hours

_They agreed passionately out of the depths of their tormented lives._

* * *

The fog pressed around them with uncomfortable, cold wetness. Japan, China, and America ran onwards while yelling out for Canada and Germany, their voices snapping the nearly palpable silence. Their weapons were at the ready as they understood entirely the consequence of producing noise: this would allow the enemies to narrow in on their location. Between the pauses where they were quiet to take in a few breaths, they listened intently. The silence that followed tingled their eardrums like the mist on their skin.

"Canada!" America called. "Germany! Can you hear us?"

The mansion grew fuzzier as they put more distance between themselves and it. Around them, silence still reigned as no sounds of howling, growling, or paws pounding the ground were heard, and still no shouts returned to them.

America swallowed down heated saliva with difficulty. He knew that over this expanse of land on a windless day, their voices would carry. When Canada and Germany still failed to respond, his stress only heightened.

 _Are they in the forest?_ he wondered. _Where should we go?_

America felt as though the others were following him. He was in the middle, only slightly ahead as they jogged on. He could turn and have them sweep around to enter the forest, but then America's fear was that Canada and Germany had been caught in the open while trying to flee back to the mansion.

Before he had reached a decision, the mist in front of them parted as they got closer, and a large tree appeared in full detail. Halfway up the oak and clustered in the branches, America saw Germany and Canada. He had been about to rejoice, but then he saw what the others had gasped at. At the base of the tree on the crimson-speckled grass, approximately thirty snouted heads turned to face them. Pitiless, dark eyes found their bodies, and the growls arose once more into full strength.

"Holy shit," America breathed.

He fired and one of the dogs' heads snapped backwards as it admitted a single yip. The pack did not hesitate, and it surged forward. The eyes of the three people standing there snapped open, but they only hesitantly continued to hold their positions with their weapons upright.

Germany exploded, "What are you doing? Run!"

The three wavered, but then they finally realized the mass of bodies that was about to crash over them like a wave. They bolted away, taking a sharp left on trajectory to the forest. Their hesitation had cost them much of the desperately needed time, and the dogs on the wings of the pack were now just behind them, snapping their teeth at their calves. Their hearts leapt as hot air and the tips of hairs brushed their legs.

China whirled around in a smooth circle with a malicious yell escaping him. The scythe acted as an extension of his arms; the blade ripped a cut in the throat behind him, straight and neat like scissors cutting through paper. The beast with gnashing, white teeth tripped over its paws and landed on its chin so that its wound pressed against the grass. Red spread from the body that no longer moved. The pack swept around their fellow comrade easily as they rapidly drew near.

America had the rifle reloaded and ready to blast a bullet into the head of another dog. The following bang could be heard by all those inside of the mansion, signifying the fall of another monster, squirming and whining in the dirt for many seconds until it quieted. Japan turned and smashed the face that had been seeking the tendons behind his knee, and after a clear crack, it dropped and was as well still.

"Take out as many as you can!" America cried.

Dogs sailed over the latest two bodies and hurried to claim the spots now available behind the legs of their running prey. The three could not hope to reach a speed greater than the canines, and so they once again had to pause to take the time to strike the faces tearing at the cloth of their costumes. The scythe completed a clean arc that ended with the blade sinking into the spine of the animal. The dog collapsed onto its stomach with its limbs outstretched. Japan spun and hit another in the face, but this time the edge only scraped it, and it yipped and danced to the side before regaining its composure. Japan did not wait to strike again, and he only fled as two other dogs came dangerously close to him.

An explosion from America's rifle, and a dog was hit in the flank. It careened sideways and crashed into the other going for him, causing it to trip.

 _Six down_ , he thought.

He cocked the rifle and peeked over his shoulder just in time to see a dog caught in the air as it lunged for him. Without stopping, America turned enough to jam the muzzle of the rifle against its forehead. With the press of his finger, red shot out and splattered onto him, ensanguining his black attire as well as sticking multi-coloured chunks of gore upon him. He did not consider any of this however, and his face remained plainly cold as he kept running.

Japan cried out when fangs hooked into his leg. He attacked it frantically with the shovel, smashing the metal repeatedly down onto its skull. Other dogs leapt for him, and he screeched as many furry bodies descended upon him. China ran to his aid, but a dog intercepted him by skidding in between them. China gasped as it pounced, and the reach of the scythe was too far to stop it from slamming its paws upon his chest. The scythe was dropped so that China could grab it by the shoulders and hold it at a distance. For a moment they danced backwards, both on two legs, until another dog swept around to rip at China's hamstring.

"No!" America screamed. First he fired over at Japan so that the brains of the dog standing on him and reaching for his neck ruptured over his face. Japan immediately shook off the body and snatched the tree beside him. Moss and flakes of bark were torn away as Japan clawed desperately upwards. The dogs leapt for his legs, scratching and biting to rake long red gashes. Japan kicked and struggled upwards until he escaped them.

America shot the dog attacking China from behind- _ten_ \- which gave him the chance to kick the dog holding on to him away and flee. The scythe could not be recollected as paws were already trampling over it. China hurled himself at a tree while America followed suit after kicking the faces nearest him. The rifle was still attached to its strap, so he was able to climb up with it painfully trapped between his stomach and the trunk.

The dogs spread out to gather at the foot of the three separate trees, standing with tails raised and fur bristling. Their heads were tilted upwards and their lips were pulled back while growls were still being pulled from their throats. America looked over to find Japan and China safe and situated among branches. China had stretched himself out over a few thinner branches to distribute his weight, and to be able to extend his leg and take a look at his wound. Japan was wiping off his face with the sleeve of his arm.

America glanced up his own tree. The others had been fortunate in finding trees with branches to hold them up, but America realized with dread that his tree only had very brittle branches at the top. It was a tall, old pine whose bark ended higher up to give way to gripless wood. Even if he desired to test the branches, he knew he was stuck where he was and could not go any higher.

He called out to the others, "Is everyone alright?"

"I'm okay," China said.

"Me too," Japan replied, but was now looking over at America in concern.

America laughed fearfully, "Well, so much for the rescue mission."

The rough bark was scratching his skin as he pressed his arms tighter into the sides of the tree in order to hold himself up.

America shivered as he added, "Should have brought more people. We did alright, but if we had more, I bet we could have wiped them out."

"We did not realize there were so many," Japan said.

America felt his muscles starting to heat up. He grunted, "Should have known… Russia said that there was more than twenty."

China and Japan were staring at America worriedly as he struggled to keep himself from sliding down the straight trunk. China asked, "What do we do?"

"We have to kill them all," America groaned. "That's the only way!"

"But how?" Japan threw out.

"I have enough bullets," America gasped. "I stuffed the boxes in my pockets. I'll shoot them."

"How?" China exclaimed.

America extended his arms and twisted his body to readjust the rifle's position. He had it moved out of the way so he could now press his chest against the trunk. He breathed in a few deep breaths before he released one hand off the tree. He struggled to get the rifle upright, and once the butt was pressed against his shoulder and his finger was over the trigger, he remembered that the magazine was now empty.

His heart rate spiked. The sweat dripped down his face as his hand reached into his pocket. He kept the box inside out of fear that he would drop it, and his fingers prodded it until they could sneak in and slide out six bullets. He popped out the magazine and slipped it as well into his pocket so that he could finger each bullet inside one-by-one. Once it was full, he carefully raised the crucial item from his pocket and out into the open. It clicked back into the rifle, and he exhaled slowly in relief.

His left arm was beginning to tingle as he still clung. America continued on to cock the rifle with the aid of the tree. He was successful, and immediately after this he lifted the gun and aimed at a dog who was staring back at him.

"America," Japan quickly said. "It might not be a good idea. The recoil might make you fall!"

"I'll manage it," America murmured, but too quietly to be heard by the others.

He pulled the trigger. The bullet struck the ground and the dog jumped as the dirt next to its paw exploded. America gasped as he swung around the tree and his hand slipped off. His feet began to slid down until America released the rifle to slap his hand against the trunk. The dogs had perked and had clustered closer to the base of America's tree, some now jumping with hopeful expectation.

America shimmied higher up, his heart wild and his face pale. He let his fogged glasses fall further down his nose so that he could at least see how close he had nearly come into range of the snapping mouths. He breathed heavily as China and Japan yelled over at him.

China had hollered, "Don't do that again! You are going to fall!"

The call from Japan had been, "It is too dangerous!"

"What other choice do we have?" America cried. "Now we're the ones stuck! But this time, we have to save ourselves!"

He took note of his shaking arms and the bark that was painfully indenting his skin. He added, "We… Don't have time to be rescued. I'll have to kill them all."

Although he had attempted to say this statement with assuring confidence, he felt absolute dread inside as he regarded the numerous pack spread out and waiting on the ground. He released his hand again to reload the rifle. The other arm squeezing the trunk trembled heavily and his feet scraped the bark again.

Japan cried, "America, no! Don't do it!"

 _I have to_ , America's mind whispered. _I'm not going to last up here long anyway._

"Wait!" China exclaimed. "I have another idea!"

America hesitated. He listened as China continued, "The dogs are afraid of the Shadow! We just need it to come here to scare them away!"

"How do we attract it?" America asked while dropping the gun to wrap both his arms around the tree again.

China replied, "Let's shout that one word! It should already be around somewhere, so we just have to let it know exactly where we are!"

"I can't remember the word," America said.

China recalled being chased by the Shadow through the forest. He said, "It was _câini_."

"Alright," America said. He then snapped his head backwards to holler out this word, and the voices of the others rose up to formulate a chorus with his. Their cries ripped through the silence of the forest and echoed over the field.

Germany marched forward while turning his head towards the forest where the screams were being emitted from. Canada was flopped over his back while his ripped legs uselessly pressed against Germany's side and drenched his costume in blood. Germany had his arms stretched out behind him in order to keep Canada upright by holding his sides. Canada's arms were slung over his shoulders limply, but after the screams were heard, those arms shifted.

Canada's head rolled to the side. He saw smudges of blackness; the trees blurred from the mist, the fog on his glasses, and his unfocused vision.

Canada whispered, "I hear America…"

"He came out with China and Japan," Germany said. "They led away the dogs so that we could get back to the mansion."

"Will they be okay?" Canada breathed.

"I hear them all," Germany replied. "And they all had weapons. I think they'll manage."

"None of us…" Canada exhaled. "We all have to get out of here alive."

Germany continued on in carrying him across the field towards the awaiting mansion.

* * *

Spain broke the door down and leapt into the room. His head whipped left-to-right, but Poland and Lithuania had disappeared entirely. He saw France crumpled with a puddle of blood spreading from his head, and he panicked and dove to his side.

"No, France…" He held his wrist. "Who did this to you?"

Spain felt a slow pulse underneath his fingers. He looked back over at those standing around in the room, and he exclaimed, "There has to be a secret door in this room!"

Portugal sat down beside him and began investigating France's head wound. Spain then leapt up and hurried off to search with the others. He marched across the room, but then had soon halted. He stared down at two parallel dark lines that cut across a short expanse of the carpet, showing where the carpet had been rubbed the wrong way.

"The chairs," Spain muttered. He bolted across the room, and everyone else moved out of his way. He slammed his hands on the wall, and his eyes widened at the sound that returned to him.

"It's hollow!" he cried.

He found the line where the wallpaper connected to another piece. He dug his fingers under the wallpaper and found that it was already loose. He pulled backwards, tearing a large triangle away to reveal a keyhole.

"That's it!" Ukraine cried. She clasped her hands together as rapture filled her eyes.

Spain attacked the wall with kicks and punches. Others searched for furniture that they could lift and run in with to strike the wall as well. The wall cracked and began to break off in flakes. Hands shot out to tear the pieces away and cast them far behind them. Gradually, a massive hole of darkness was achieved. Spain kicked in the rest until a wavy, rectangular doorway was left.

"We did it," Spain breathed.

He gritted his teeth and popped into the small room. The others scrambled forward in worried excitement. An instant later, Spain gasped as he fell through a hole in the floor. The impact of his feet striking a surface less than two metres below echoed down the tunnel that stretched on both in front and behind him.

"Spain!" Portugal cried out. "What happened?"

Spain heard him, and called back, "I fell into the tunnel! These must be the secret halls between the levels. That's just the entrance up there!"

Spain padded forward and yelped when he hit something solid. The others heard the cry, and they panicked while throwing out frantic inquiries. Spain hastened to reply, "It's one of them! Someone, help me lift him out!"

Switzerland hoped into the room and dropped down the hole into the tunnel. Spain dragged the weighted chair across the floor until it was below the hole, and together they strained to lift the chair upwards. Ukraine waited at the top, and felt around until she grabbed onto the chair. They managed to successfully exit the chair from the hole and back onto the second floor.

The others heard the dragging, and then Ukraine reappeared, shuffling backwards out of the hole. Spain and Switzerland jumped up and climbed out to follow her.

Out of the darkness, they had recovered a chair that had a body still bound to it by ropes.

"Lithuania!" Ukraine gasped as she finally could see who she had seized.

She and the others regarded his still face that was flopped over to the side. They noticed how he breathed very softly, and they saw the needle still poking out from his shoulder. Ukraine drew it out carefully and investigated it with the rest.

"Some kind of tranquilizer," Switzerland muttered.

"We caught him in time," Spain said. "But the culprit must be making off with Poland right now. I'm going after them!"

Spain hurried back to the hole. Switzerland cried, "You can't go in there without a light!"

Spain had jumped back down into the pitch-black tunnel. After he hit the floor, he turned his head and listened.

Vietnam called out, "He's right, you don't know what you will run into down there!"

A cry returned, "I hear them!"

The others could not see how Spain's eyes had narrowed and how his lips had pulled back. They could however, hear his snarled exclamation of, "I hear you down there! I'm coming for you!"

Switzerland soon snapped into action and he dove into the hole after him. He experienced once more the shock of the drop to his joints, but he stopped regardless to listen to where Spain's pounding footsteps were coming from.

"Hold on!" Switzerland exclaimed. "It's dangerous!"

He tore off after him.

Spain could not see anything, but he heard metallic sounds. He shrieked, "I'm going to put an end to this! You are not going to take another person ever again!"

The metal sounds continued on until the last second before he heard running. Spain dipped his head and growled, "I won't let you get away-"

Something pressed down under his foot and then there was a clatter. Large metal teeth snapped into his leg and trapped it between its jaws. Spain screamed and fell forward, curling and dragging the bear trap clamped on his leg with him. Blood erupted from the wound and he felt the teeth searing his flesh further as he writhed and continued to screech.

Agonizing heat shot through him, and his consciousness wavered. Like his nose, he was fairly certain that he had just broken another bone, or perhaps two, if his tibia and fibula had both been cracked by the powerful jaws. Spain rolled and brought his knee to his chest so that he could vainly claw at the metal.

"Spain! What happened? Talk to me!" Switzerland cried.

He tripped and fell over Spain. Switzerland felt a large metal object against his abdomen, and then as he pushed himself away, a sticky liquid coated both his hands.

The dragging was heard fading away. Switzerland jumped over Spain, but then Spain snatched his ankle.

"No, you don't know what's down there!" Spain gasped. "My leg's… in a trap. The same thing might happen to you!"

"He's taking Poland away," Switzerland stated.

"You were right," Spain moaned. "We need light."

Switzerland scooted around him then begin dragging him back towards the light coming into the tunnel from the room. Many heads were already seen peeking into the tunnel with stark terror upon their faces. Switzerland called for help, and Vietnam raced in to reach into the hole. Many seconds later, Spain was pulled into the light by them, and instantly all were gasping as the blood-drenched leg was revealed with the huge steel device clamped upon it. A chain clattered as it was dragged across the floor and the trail of fresh blood Spain was creating.

"Oh crap, Spain!" Portugal cried.

He raced to his injury, about to grab onto the bear trap, but then he hesitated and kept his hands hovering over the jaws. He remembered suddenly, so he grabbed onto Spain and sat him up. The trap was upright, and he hurried over to one side of it while Switzerland caught on and trotted over to the other side. No instructions needed to be given. They each stepped on a spring with their weight until the jaws opened.

Norway dragged Spain from the trap. Once clear, Switzerland and Portugal stepped off the trap and it snapped its red-stained mouth closed. Spain moaned and his eyelids flickered. Many hands helped him stand upright on one foot, and he was led away by Portugal and Norway. Ukraine successfully had Lithuania's ropes untied, and she scooped him up to follow the others with Austria holding his legs. Switzerland and Vietnam took France's unconscious form between them with the weapons balanced on his front.

Those downstairs were shocked to see the three people being carried down the stairs. Romano leapt up with a face white with horror as he gasped, "Spain! What the hell happened?"

Spain was set down and his leg was already starting to get bound up by the time Romano had reached his side. Spain was gasping and groaning, staring at his injury in shock. He did not see Romano at first until his arm was touched.

Spain looked over as Romano demanded, "Who did this to you?"

"The culprit," Spain murmured. "We found the tunnel, and I went after Poland, but then this person knew that someone would follow… so a bear trap was set up. It was dark; I couldn't see it."

"Damn it you bastard," Romano sniffed. "You shouldn't have run down there in the dark!"

"I didn't want the culprit to win," Spain sighed as his head rolled. "I didn't want them to take another person..."

Denmark exclaimed, "We have to go after them! The flashlight-"

He raced to the table and snatched it. He tested the button, and it clicked on. It immediately flickered however. Norway watched him, and said, "It's been used too much. The battery will die on you."

Romania said, "There are spare batteries in the kitchen!"

He hurried out of the circle. The rest heard the sound of drawers sliding and slamming, and mumbling in Romanian. After a concerning amount of time had passed, Bulgaria slunk over and entered the kitchen.

"Romania?" he asked hesitantly.

Romania gasped, "They're gone! The culprit took them all!"

"Oh no…" Bulgaria whispered.

Romania's outburst had been audible. Denmark tapped his foot and growled, "Gotta risk it then!"

"No, wait!" Seychelles cried. "Take the cellphone at least!"

It had been left charging since its last usage. Seychelles ran over and yanked the cord from the phone. She then jogged back to Denmark and gave it to him.

"We're going for it," Denmark announced while pocketing the phone. "We will find the second attic and the missing people. Who's coming?"

"Denmark, wait," Iceland said. "We should wait until everyone outside comes back. We need their weapons."

"We have the iron shear pieces," Denmark replied. "And knives and pans. We'll have to manage. We're almost out of time! So, who's coming with me?"

Denmark was surprised when Iceland agreed. Norway did as well, and so did Romania, Bulgaria, Vietnam, and Switzerland. A few others offered, but then Norway said, "We need some people to stay here to treat the injured, and guard them and the children."

"I'm going," Romano said. Italy was thoroughly baffled as his brother rose and joined the group in selecting weapons.

"Wait, are you sure?" Italy cried after him.

Romano's facial expression demonstrated fear, and his voice wavered but affirmed, "I want to be brave. That's what this charm's for, right? I'll do it then. I'll get back at this culprit for everything he's done, and beat the damn game. I want to be there at the end."

"Then I'm coming too!" Italy announced.

Denmark stared over the large group around him. He saw that Liechtenstein, Seychelles, Ukraine, Finland, and Sweden would stay behind and guard over all the rest and wait for the five outside to return in whatever condition that they would. Denmark noted the four young ones, and the four injured.

 _Wait_ , he then thought. _Is he unconscious?_

Britain was lying still with his eyes closed. A bruise was darkening around his right eye, but Denmark did not believe that Sweden's punch had been meant to completely knock him out.

 _They'll deal with him_ , Denmark decided.

He led the group up the stairs as a force. As they ascended, Switzerland informed them, "The tunnel's wide. We can go side-by-side."

Those remaining downstairs watched them march away. After a few seconds, they looked away in order to observe all those who were injured. Ukraine had taken Lithuania to the treatment area like Spain, in order to cover up his bleeding gashes. Simultaneously, Sweden had noticed that Britain still had not moved, and so he wandered over in concern.

He knelt down beside Britain and shook his shoulder. Britain stirred and fluttered his eyes open to see the intimidating, seemingly cold face staring down at him. Britain appeared only confused, and he ended up murmuring, "What's going on?"

"They found the tunnel," Sweden mumbled.

"Ah." Britain rolled over as Sweden drifted away. His eyes scanned the area, noticing that many were gone. As his thoughts pulled together, he realized that the five who had gone outside were still not present. He pulled himself into a sitting position and lifted his hand to test the tender spot on his face. He grazed the bruise with his fingertips and his eyebrows twitched as he barely contained his grimace.

He felt a wave of dizziness that he knew was not the result of his newly acquired injury. He had not been unconscious, yet the time had passed and so much had occurred without him knowing what.

 _What time is it now? How long was I out of it?_ he thought.

For a reason he was not certain about, he was highly conscious of the beating of his heart. It felt heavy and powerful in his chest, and its beats pounded his eardrums. Britain stared across the room and saw Latvia sitting with his useless leg stretched out while he was regarding a syringe that was balanced on his open palms. Beside him on the ground, Lithuania was bandaged up and appearing to be asleep.

He then saw Spain sitting with a heavily wrapped leg. He was taking in deep breaths while being comforted by Liechtenstein. Ukraine was cutting a blue-striped sheet into strips by herself nearby.

Finally, he saw France lying down in the designated treatment area as well. Britain watched on in shock and confusion as Seychelles cleaned blood from his hair. Britain stood up and pattered over with the sound of his heart still deafening in his ears. Seychelles cast her eyes upon him as he sat down beside her. Britain ignored her for a few seconds, as he stared at France's still face. Then, he flashed his attention over to her to ask, "Is he okay?"

"Oh, ah- yes," she replied. "He got hit in the head a few times, but he'll be fine. He's just unconscious."

"Okay," Britain whispered. His gaze was once again glued upon France. It was horrifyingly intriguing to see him hurt and quiet. He felt something pull at his chest as he thought to himself that the blood did not belong there on him.

There was a flash of movement. Britain and Seychelles turned like the others as Sealand scrambled across the room towards the front door. They saw then past him through the window the two people who had broken through the mist and could be seen completely. Sealand threw the door open, and Germany shuffled in with Canada clinging to his back.

At first Britain could only emit a choked gasp. His thudding heart fluttered in panic the moment he had caught sight of the skinned legs at Germany's sides that were no more than bones covered in slick red with sticky muscles hanging off them in shreds. Britain's eyes snapped open and a scream was ripped painfully from his throat. Many heads flickered over for fear that someone was being attacked, and all were surprised to find that that was not the case, and that the scream had been produced by him.

Germany hurried to set Canada down on the floor for treatment. Britain had promptly dived onto Ukraine's pile of blanket shreds to squeeze as many as he could into his arms. He rushed back to Canada and took many of the strips at once to begin wrapping them around his legs. He minded the muscles, tucking them in place before he secured them tightly against their respective legs. Germany snatched some strips as well and began raveling them around Canada's leg while also taking care to lay the muscles in place first. Ukraine hastened to cut more strips to keep satisfying the demand.

Britain tied the final knot that left Canada's left leg completely covered. A few seconds later, Germany was done with the other leg. Britain gasped and trembled as he stared at his hands that were soaked with Canada's blood. A whine escaped his throat, and stress arose now when it had not before when his hands had been covered in his own greasy blood after being burnt. He towelled off his hands quickly to remove the most of the hot carnelian, then he instantly gathered Canada into his arms.

"Canada..." Britain breathed. "I'm so sorry…"

Canada's back was pressed against his chest. Canada turned his head and weakly rested it against Britain's cheek. His eyes creaked open as he exhaled, "Britain…?"

"Yes," he whispered. "I got you."

Britain's arms tightened around Canada's chest so that he could be held close. Canada felt him shivering, and then something wet dripped into his hair. He asked quietly, "Are you crying, Britain?"

Britain's chest tightened with agony. He dipped his head and replied in a faltering voice, "Of course I am, Canada. You're hurt..."

Canada's warm breath could be felt by Britain on his neck as Canada murmured, "Thank you…"

More tears dropped into Canada's hair as Britain choked again. Guilt scratched his insides, and it felt as though acid was squirting over his organs from a rip in his stomach. Britain sobbed, "I care… I was so wrong… I _care_! You're in pain, and you don't deserve to be. None of us deserves this… How could I have forgotten that suffering is _real_?"

"It's okay," Canada sighed.

"I'm sorry," Britain coughed. "I am so sorry… I said awful things, but I take everything back."

Canada quieted and just breathed slowly in his arms. Britain felt his chest expanding under his hands, and the gentle exhales still being blown over his throat.

Britain added with a sniff, "It's almost over. They found the tunnel. They're going to bring everybody out soon, and then I'll take you to the hospital right away."

Canada seemed to hear him, for he shifted slightly. Under his right hand Britain felt Canada's heart beating at a rate much slower than his. From the feeling of life beneath his palm and the sound of his own heart still loud to him, memories came into focus in his mind. He could see Canada as a shy, ever so quiet child once again. The kid in harmless, white clothes who handled objects with exceedingly gentle care.

Britain's crying increased as he clung to the person he had raised, hoping desperately that he would not drift away into death in his arms. He wept as he waited for the next stroke of luck that would have Canada surviving his life-threatening injury, like Finland had. Seychelles watched in concern as Britain cried unendingly, and those who had not helped inform Germany of the recent happenings stared at Britain in awe. He had cracked, like an egg after being struck by a hammer. The hard shell had been crushed so that his emotions could dribble out while carrying away the chips.

Britain could only think, _Hang in there, please... The end is near. We're getting out of here!_

Germany regarded all the injured, but he knew that there was nothing he could do for them. He desired to go join the group proceeding into the tunnel, but he was sure that they were already too far away. In addition, he was anxious to know what had happened to America, China, and Japan. He had watched them disappear into the forest with the dogs biting at their calves. A few were killed, but he was worried that the pack had been too numerous in regards to its members, thus they might have been overwhelmed. He twitched as he imagined Canada's injuries becoming the fate of their entire bodies.

He did not want to just stand there. The others saw him turning his head every which way until it stopped. He focused on the idle, white cord curling from the wall as though it had been waiting to be noticed.

Germany said, "I want another phone charging there."

It might have seemed redundant, and a questionable command even. The effort to go out into the halls to fetch a phone from the room with the confiscated items would be pointless if the group in the tunnels found the missing people and brought them back within the hour. However, no one objected as they realized the weight in Germany's words.

They understood that Germany did not think it was over yet. This startled them, and Finland ended up being the one to fearfully ask, "What do you think is going to happen, Germany?"

"I don't know," he uttered. "But I fear that something bad will happen to that group."

Germany swallowed. Sweden asked, "Why's that?"

"Ghost is a liar, whoever he is," Germany replied. "He made us go after Poland and Lithuania. Then, he said that everyone was in a secret attic. I have this awful feeling that if they're going there, they're in danger."

Moldova whimpered, "But they all have weapons right? They'll be okay?"

"I hope beyond anything else that yes, they will be alright," Germany said. "But… The phone. Britain, give me the keys."

Britain's hand slipped into his pocket, and he drew out the key ring. He flipped through it until he flicked around a single key so that it stuck out. He lifted the ring by that key then passed it to Germany so that he would know which one to use.

"I have no iron," Germany said. "One person should come with me, but you'll have to be ready to run if something happens."

Ukraine stood up and came over to him. Germany swept around and walked out of the safe zone with her at his side.

* * *

Denmark fell down the hole and his feet smacked on the wooden floor. He immediately clicked on the flashlight in his left hand. The beam seared through the darkness and revealed a wide and featureless tunnel that extended on beyond the reach of the flashlight. Smears of blood were on the floor from Spain, but this was all that could be seen besides the cobwebs that dominated the ceiling.

He strode forward, making room for Romania to fall down behind him. One-by-one, they dropped and joined in the line following Denmark. They adjusted themselves on their own until they moved forward in twos. The iron hedge clipper blades had been separated so that one was kept at the front and one in the back. Iceland held the lump of quartz and he walked in the center. All the others had kept to their knives and frying pans.

There were many holes in the ceiling to the left and to the right that indicated many other secret doors and closets. Vietnam commented, "There are so many. We can pop into just about every room like this."

"That's how they got into the bathroom," Iceland said. "They crawled up through the hole and opened the door."

"We're between the first and second floor right now," Norway said. "Those below can probably hear us. I assume that this culprit is very light on their feet if they travel between the floors so often without us ever hearing their footsteps. This must also be why I never heard them sneaking up on me."

"They must have been quiet with the door too," Denmark said. "I mean, because you never heard it."

"I don't like this," Romano said. "It sounds like this person is too practiced."

Romania said, "And they are way more familiar with this house than I am. They've definitely been here for a long time. Not to mention, they have keys that I never even knew existed for this place."

"Those in the back should watch out," Vietnam said. "If this person can sneak around without making a sound, then be careful in the dark."

"Alright," Switzerland and Bulgaria replied.

They continued walking for a while. At the corner where the mansion's structure made a sharp turn, the light revealed two narrow staircases where one flight went up and one went down. Like the main flights of stairs in the heart of the mansion, the choices were side-by-side. There was still a hall to the right that carried on like the halls above and below, and in addition there was still the tunnel that went on in the opposite direction from where they had entered. So far they had chosen the direction the culprit seemed to have gone, and Denmark now decided to lead them upwards. Moldova had brought them the news from Ghost that the missing people were all supposedly in the "second attic", so after finding the stairs, they climbed higher.

They turned around on every next between-level to go up the next flight. Every time, Denmark quickly shined the light down the hall in order to do a quick check that nothing was waiting there to charge them. On the floor between the third and fourth levels, he was once again relieved to find nothing there. However, as they continued to the next flight, Denmark and Romania were struck with a powerful chill.

They both jolted, and Romania cautioned him, "I feel some dark energy."

Denmark had already had the blade ready, but his facial expression hardened. They proceeded up the next flight of stairs more slowly. A few seconds later, the group halted at the sound of a creak from above. They exhaled slowly and collectively, and because they could not see Denmark so well, the flashlight was what they peered expectantly at.

The flashlight flickered off. Denmark slapped it back on, but the sound of his skin striking the metal rang out. Without hesitation, pounding footsteps hurried down the flight of stairs above them. The thumps grew increasingly louder as they came closer. The light flickered back on, and Denmark stepped ahead of Romania so that he could extend the blade-wielding arm out to the side.

There was a slam as something struck the floor above. There was a shuffling that indicated something was rounding the corner in order to take the next flight down to where the group currently was.

A shadow flitted into sight. Denmark gasped as it charged down the stairs towards him with frantic _thump, thump, thumps!_ sounding out from under floating feet that did not touch the wood of the undecorated stairs. Once it came into range, he swiped out the blade. Before he had the satisfaction of watching the metal cut through the dark mist, the flashlight powered off again. He did not hesitate to complete his swipe, but once his right hand touched his shoulder, he immediately struggled with the flashlight.

"Come on!" he hissed while slapping it repeatedly. He growled before giving up on it to find Romania. Denmark shoved the dead flashlight into his hands before he slid the cellphone out from his pocket. He pressed the power button, and a weak light glowed from the device.

"Damn," Denmark grunted. "We can't see anything with this!"

What was visible to the group had been fiercely restricted to a distance barely in front of Denmark's own face. They continued higher, but now everyone behind Denmark was growing more anxious. If they had wanted to check the darkness close to them, all they would have had to do was ask Denmark to shine the flashlight over in their direction. Now however, they were forced to proceed into the wide tunnels where anything could be waiting by the walls to their sides in the absolute darkness.

The staircase ended. They were starting down this hall when Romania whispered, "We're between the roof and the fifth floor. This is the level where the other attic was, except that one was in the ceiling of a bedroom across the mansion. There was also nothing in there at all."

Denmark noted it, along with the fact that Romania was whispering now. He felt fear stir within because of that fact, so he worriedly asked in a hushed tone, "Hey… Why is it that we're whispering now?"

Romania hesitated to reply, and in the silence they heard the patter of their footsteps on the wood. Then, he finally replied, "That negative feeling I mentioned before hasn't gone away."

" _What?_ " Denmark breathed out in a fearful hiss.

"No… In fact, it's only getting worse."

The other groups members shivered, and their heart rates picked up. Denmark gasped, " _Worse?_ "

Romania murmured, "I would highly recommend turning back now, but given the circumstances…"

"We can't turn back." Denmark clenched his teeth. "We're close…"

They walked on, but then Denmark paused in consideration and he finished his trailed-off sentence with, "Aren't we?"

"I'm getting a bad feeling about this," Norway said. "I feel it too. There's a lot of dangerous energy nearby. It's stationary right now. We can still leave, but if we continue, we're going to walk right into it."

"I don't want to make the call," Denmark murmured. "But I know that we're so short on time. All the missing people might be where that energy is. They might just be in front of us."

"We have three weapons against ghosts, and weapons for anything else," Switzerland spoke from the back. "I say we go for it. I think we're ready."

"Everyone?" Denmark asked.

"I don't know…" Vietnam said. "Romania and Norway know more about this than we do… but, I suppose we _are_ ready."

The others came to the same conclusion. It was so that they continued forward. Denmark clutched the grip of the hedge clipper blade even more tightly while he cast occasional glances over at Romania. He watched how Romania's expression became more apprehensive and worried the further onwards they went. This only increased Denmark's fear.

 _If he's afraid..._ Denmark did not need to finish the thought.

The air felt so dense. It was the same feeling that one got whenever one visited the fifth floor of the mansion. Denmark recalled immediately when his original group with Sweden, Finland, Sealand, and Ladonia had gone up to the fifth floor to search on the first afternoon. He remembered exactly how different this floor felt from the other ones, and how only there it felt as though the air consumed all sound.

The difference now was that the feeling was much more powerful. Just as it was on the floor below them, the urge came to everyone to drop their voices into a whisper. The overwhelming feeling floated through this air, and it was that something would break the peace in any second. The odd thing that Denmark became so suddenly aware of was that despite how the most uncomfortable of feelings arose when on the fifth floor of the mansion, nothing had ever happened to anyone before on that level. Not a single supernatural occurrence had ever taken place there.

 _Where are the spooks then?_ Denmark swallowed, although it sounded much too loud to his liking in this near silence.

The tunnel ended. Denmark and Romania nearly gasped in surprise when a door seemed to have appeared out of nowhere to stand before them. It was an ordinary hardwood door with the only thing adorning it being the handle. Above the door however, was a much more eye-catching Orthodox cross that was deeply carved into the wood.

"I don't like that at all," Romania whispered.

Denmark passed the phone to Romania before he stepped forward to set his greatly trembling hand onto the handle. His exhale was broken, and he saw his breath under the light from the cell phone screen that Romania had glowing over his form. Denmark slowly pressed down, and he pushed forward. The door did not creak as it was opened a crack.

That was when it hit him. Denmark flashed the others a horrified look as he gasped, "What- wasn't this supposed to be locked?"

The door handle escaped his hand as the door shot away to slam against a wall somewhere in the room behind him. Denmark tripped and smashed onto his stomach before he started to be dragged swiftly backwards into the pitch-blackness. He attempted to stab the blade into the wood, and this worked for a moment before his fingers slipped and his fingernails were left scraping the ground in desperation. An instant later, Denmark was yanked backwards screeching into the darkness and consumed by the room.

" _No!_ " Norway screamed. He was the first to snap forward. He tore the blade from the ground and he dashed into the room as Romania did.

The light bounced and barely illuminated a metre in front of them. The group threw themselves into the depths of this room, but they still could not see the place where Denmark's continued screams of bloody murder were coming from.

As it had been with Norway when he had been attacked in the bathroom, panic snatched away cognitive abilities and Denmark could only shriek in his native language, " _No! No! Oh god- ahhh! Stop! Please, someone, help- eeeyahhh!_ "

There was a heavy bang on the floor to their side. Romania flashed the light to the left and saw an unlidded box tipped on its side with yellow papers still sliding from it. A shadow stood beside him, and it took a step forward. Romania hopped away with a yelp that was taken up by the others who had as well seen it.

Denmark's screams heightened into the highest screeching that Norway had ever heard him produce before. Norway panicked and dove into the darkness ahead of Romania. A few steps in, icy hands snatched his arm and locked on. He fought to escape the grip and slice to the side, but the arm holding the weapon was rendered immobile, and now Norway felt himself being dragged away from the others, and he screamed and struggled while trying to dig his heels into the floor.

Switzerland cried out, and in the next instant Bulgaria found the space to his side to be empty. The final iron weapon had now been taken away from those remaining in the group. They shook and breathed rapidly as they backed into each other and stared out in all directions into the blackness.

Romania was in the middle of them. He swept around in a circle, and the light revealed that a ring of ten shadows had been closing in on them and were now at an extremely close distance. Coldness swept around them as the shadows reached out twitching, skeletal hands forward.

They were less than a metre away from them when Romania choked out, "The gem, Iceland-"

Then the darkness engulfed them and Romania's words twisted into a scream of agony. The phone was dropped to lay face-down and that left all completely blind. He felt the ground drop away, and the air was heard whooshing by his ears as his body was easily flung to the side. He struck the wall like a ragdoll, crumpling and sliding down it without a struggle.

Romania was given no chance to recover before he zipped back up the wall to be pinned there. He struggled and writhed before he felt coldness gently touch upon his shoulders. In the next instant, they were gone and scalding fingers were swiping across his face. He turned his head and closed his eyes in time before the fingers could burn his eyes.

"Iceland!" Romania cried. "Use it! Calm them- _aiiiieee! Nu! Nu- staiiii!_ "

Iceland spun around desperately, holding out the crystal and hoping that the shadows he could not see were being struck by it. He heard the screaming of all of the others, and he panicked to find them. He heard Switzerland and Vietnam close by, and the furthest away came Norway's screams. He was sure that Denmark had been near Norway before, but now he could no longer hear him.

Iceland trembled and continued swiping out the gem. He felt the immense pressure upon him to save everyone, but he could not see anyone and nor could he reach those no longer on the ground. He backed away with tears spilling from his eyes.

 _I can't save them!_ his mind wailed. _I don't know what to do!_

"Iceland!" Norway shrieked. "Ice- _aaahhhh!_ "

"No, no, no, no!" Iceland balled while he still swung around in his circles.

He slammed his eyes shut and squeezed hot tears out through his eyelids. He heard the cracks and sound of pounding flesh intertwined with the pained screams, and he emitted his own cry of terror.

 _Wake up!_ Iceland sobbed. _Wake up! This is not real- none of it ever was!_

The scab over the wound on his side opened and poured blood down to his hip. It tingled hotly as though squirming glass shards resided in the cut. Iceland cried openly and loudly as he spun and stabbed away the cold fingers touching and trying to get a hold of him.

 _Wake up…_

Hands snatched his hair. He hurried to attack behind himself with the gem, but then he was shoved forward. Iceland tripped, and when he fell, his face landed on the quartz so that the beautiful shards impaled his face.


	16. In Those Final Hours (continued)

_The tears began to flow and sobs shook him. He gave himself up to them now for the first time on the island; great, shuddering spasms of grief that seemed to wrench his whole body._

* * *

Germany and Ukraine returned with all of the handbags' straps around their arms. Inside them were all of the keys and phones. They set the bags down safely in the circle, then Germany opened up one and drew out a black-cased phone. He plugged it in then sat back down.

"You brought everything back," Latvia said.

"I want everything to be close on hand so that we can hurry out of here once we have everything," he replied. "And it would be a great inconvenience if our phones and keys were taken just after we got everyone back. The choice to put them away was not necessarily a good one either.

Sealand asked, "So we'll be home soon?"

"Today," Germany confirmed.

Latvia asked, "The deadline is not concerning you?"

"Not anymore," Germany said. "We have found the tunnels. This must be where they are. We can find them."

Germany wanted to say how much time was left, but the charged phone was not there to provide the time. Without it, he could not be sure, but he was still certain that they had a few hours left.

Forms flashed by the windows. The door was thrown inwards, and America stood there gasping with his arm pressed against the wood. After a second, he moved and Japan walked in followed by a limping China.

"You made it back!" Germany exclaimed.

"Holy shit though," America gasped. "That was close!"

China took himself to the treatment area as Japan checked over himself again for major injuries. All he seemed to have obtained was many small cuts, so he relaxed his shoulders and went to sit down. America looked around the room, and he jolted when he noticed the four new additions to the treatment area and the general lack of people in the room.

"Dude, we were gone for like half an hour! What happened?"

America hurried over to the treatment area upon catching sight of his brother slumped backwards in Britain's arms. Canada's legs were completely covered, but in some places pink spots appeared through the cloth.

Germany explained, "France was attacked, then Poland and Lithuania were taken. A secret door was found in their room, and we were able to break it down. Spain went into the tunnel and found Lithuania already tranquilized. He went back down after Poland, but he ran into a bear trap. Those not here have just descended into the tunnel to search for the missing people."

America was currently occupied with touching Canada's face, but after a hesitation, he replied, "Whoa, so we did it? We're at the end?"

"We'll soon see," Germany said.

America nodded as his hand drifted away. He said, "It has to be over. So many of us need to get to the hospital as soon as possible."

"We can only sit here and wait," Germany continued. "So why don't you just explain for now what happened after we left you three?"

"Oh yeah!" America slapped a fist onto his palm. "So we took down ten dogs, and while that's good, there were still too many and we had to climb up some trees. I would have shot them one-by-one, but the tree I climbed had no branches where I could sit myself down. Then China had this awesome idea to attract the Shadow to the area. So we started yelling _câini_ for a bit, and then only a minute later, the Shadow just jumps out from nowhere! It was probably already on its way, but man, it was good timing. I totally fell right after that.

"Then the dogs just ran away with their tails between their legs, barking and whining as the Shadow chased them all away. Once they were gone, we jumped down and hurried back. Some dogs came back, but then the Shadow scared them off again for us. If it wasn't for it- well, them, then I know for sure that I wouldn't be here right now."

"That is fortunate," Britain murmured.

"Yeah," America said. "So, that's that."

He looked back to Canada in concern. He was so quiet, and it was uncertain if he had been able to hear America's story at all. America touched him again, but Canada did not respond.

"He's been fading in and out of it," Germany explained. "But he's still holding on."

"I didn't get to really see what happened," America said. "Was it really bad?"

Germany did not lie.

"His injuries are very serious. It might be a while before he can walk again."

"He's really hurt…" America choked. "Oh no. But… This is not fair at all. He never did anything wrong. Out of all of us, he was probably the most good."

Germany did not deny it. He had come to accept that Canada's leadership had been revered by the others more than his, despite how he would still argue that his leadership had gotten things done quicker. Germany knew that he had hurt people as well in uncontrolled rage, such as Switzerland, Russia, Spain, and Latvia, when he should not have. Canada had fought him, but Canada had never hurt anybody without a justifiable reason before. He had taken everything much more carefully than Germany had, and Canada had never thrown himself into one of the culprit's traps due to his mindful treading.

 _He was against attacking Latvia and Russia, and he did not believe that Poland and Lithuania were guilty. He ran outside because he wanted to stop Sweden and Denmark from getting to them. He has never been fooled. He is truly the best of us all._

They waited, and the minutes passed by without them knowing how many. The phone switched on by itself once it had received enough power to function. It was left in the wall to continue charging for a while longer. Germany decided that having one phone with lasting power would be better than many phones that would promptly die on them.

Lithuania stirred and opened his eyes. He seemed unaware of his surroundings, and quite lethargic. Ukraine watched over him until his mind cleared and he sat up on his own. France woke soon after, and once both were cognizant of their surroundings, the situation was explained to them.

"Poland?" Lithuania gasped. "No… Oh no…"

"We're getting him back right away," Ukraine said. "It's over soon."

"I hope he hasn't been hurt," Lithuania sighed. "His back's already in bad shape."

He shot a barbed look at Sweden. Sweden looked away with a slight frown and a guilty heart.

They waited again together without the need for conversation. Eventually, Ladonia summoned up the will to ask his question despite how he was sure that he would be denied. He moved in closer to Sweden and asked timorously, "I know it's a bad time, but can I go to the bathroom?"

No one wanted to stay in the mansion any longer than they had t+o. Once the people were recovered, they wanted to exit immediately and drive the injured to the hospital. If the group returned while they were away, then there would be an unwanted delay.

Germany replied for Sweden, "It will be faster to go to the bathroom on the second level."

Sweden muttered, "Where Norway was attacked?"

"There must only be a secret door in there. There is no more danger in being in there than in any other room. Just watch out and keep the door open."

"We only have non-iron weapons," Finland pointed out.

Germany replied, "It will have to be like when Ukraine and I went out to fetch the bags. Just run back. It's only the second level, and the bathroom is near the stairs. You won't be far from the circle."

"I'll take him then," Finland said.

Sweden started to argue, but Finland countered, "I can run now. We were doing that for a while yesterday when the Shadow was chasing us. It doesn't matter who goes. I'll just do it."

"I can come too."

Britain said, "The more people, the more likely a ghost is going to sense you."

"Just me and Ladonia then," Finland said. "There won't be a problem. Don't worry."

Sweden replied, "You're leaving the safe zone without a weapon. I am going to worry."

Finland sighed, stood up anyways, and began walking Ladonia out of the salt circle. The papers of the logbook spread over the table were ignored and simply passed by. They had long since been neglected and despised, for on one of those sheets were the names of the first five missing people, with that mocking laughter still beside Russia's name in bold and uppercase letters.

"Please be quick," Finland whispered to him once they were on the second floor.

"I know," Ladonia said.

He hopped into the bathroom but instantly gasped. Finland jumped in and snatched him, yanking him away. Ladonia quickly explained, "Wait, there's nothing in there!"

Finland released him and asked, "Why did you gasp then?"

Ladonia shivered, and he replied, "W-Well, there is something, b-but, not an enemy."

He led Finland into the bathroom, and they stopped in front of the mirror. Finland inhaled sharply as he stared not at his reflection, but at the word that had been written on the glass in drying blood.

BEELZEBUB

"The Lord of the Flies," Finland said. "It's confirmed then. This was all a game inspired by that book."

Ladonia only said, "That blood looks fresh."

Finland said, "I would not be surprised if they had a vile on hand just for this. The culprit's crazy and sadistic. This could be any of their blood. Prussia's… Estonia's…

Finland swallowed then left the room. Ladonia left the door open and Finland stationed himself against the neighboring wall in order to give Ladonia privacy. He looked in both directions down the hall, hoping greatly that they could go another minute without a ghost catching them in the hall. When Finland heard the tap running in the bathroom, he thought, _Almost done… then we go back…_

At this moment he briefly regretted coming up here. He wondered if it would have been safer to just tell Ladonia to go outside, where he would be close to the door if a dog happened to be around to attack him. Finland's heart pattered, and his legs twitched impatiently as he desired nothing more than to hurry down the stairs and get them both back into the ring of safety.

Ladonia flushed the toilet lastly. It was the loudest thing, so he hurried out of the room immediately after setting it off. Ladonia burst out into the hall and stuck to Finland's side as they jogged to the stairs.

Down the hall on the other side of the stairs, a head popped around the corner. Finland gasped as two black eyes found their forms. The body followed the head as long legs stalked into the hall. It started heading towards them in a swift walk, but once it became more sure of its desire, it broke out into a lope towards them.

"Run, Ladonia!" Finland cried. He pushed Ladonia forward then swung him to the side so that he was stumbling down the stairs. Ladonia rushed down them, but he turned his head and wailed, "Wait! What are you-"

Finland did not take the stairs down. Ladonia watched in terror as Finland dashed by them then disappeared from sight.

Ladonia sprinted down the stairs and jumped into the midst of those already up and frantic.

"What's happening?" Germany demanded.

"F-Finland…"

That was all that needed to be said. Sweden was gone in an instant and bolting up the stairs. At the top he whipped his head to the side. He froze when he saw Finland not far from him, standing still with his back turned to him.

"Fin?"

Sweden hurried to his side and turned to check over him. He sighed in relief when he found that he seemed to be free of injury.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

Finland was oddly silent. Sweden finally followed his gaze to the dead dog by his feet.

Finland whispered, "I told you I am horrible. I just killed someone's dog, and I didn't even hesitate. I just… kind of grabbed it and…"

"It would have tried to kill someone."

"Still…"

"It is not a dog. That is a wild animal."

"Don't be ridiculous," Finland sniffed. "It's still a dog, no matter how it acts. I… killed one of Hana's kind. I feel like I've betrayed her."

"You had to. She would understand."

Finland stared over the dog's neck again. He could not see when it lay on its side like this, but he knew that its neck was broken. He could still remember the feeling of squirming muscles, fur, and then the leather of the collar worn by this dog.

Sweden commented on this.

"This one has a collar on."

He bent down and pulled at it. He saw the silver ring were a leash could be attached. Sweden concluded from this, "It was led here."

"Yeah," Finland murmured. "It came from one of the rooms. I think it was the one where the door was found."

"Was it released to surprise us?" Sweden mused.

He lifted the upper body of the dog by pulling it upwards by the collar. Its head flopped to the side towards the bag hanging onto the collar by a string. Sweden had not been able to see this until now, for it had been lying on it when he had arrived. Finland seemed to not have noticed it before as well, for he gasped in surprise.

Sweden snapped it off and he held the bag up by its string. His and Finland's eyes grew wide as they stared at the little cloth bag dampened in red.

Finland mewled, "No… We- We had more time!"

Germany and America appeared at the top of the stairs. They hurried over to where Finland was crying in front of a dead dog while Sweden was petrified at his side.

"A dog?" Germany gasped. "Inside? Is everyone alright?"

As the other two came near, Sweden slowly turned with his arm raised so that the bag could be seen, swinging slightly side-to-side.

Germany and America froze in their tracks. Instantly the mood changed and Germany was shouting, "No! It's not night! We had more time! It's not over yet!"

He snatched the bag from Sweden. Germany could not stop himself now from crying as he regarded the blood soaking through the bag's fabric. He stumbled away, knowing that he had to demonstrate this horror to the others, although he could not imagine himself being able to open the bag to confirm its contents.

He nearly tripped down the stairs as grief overcame him. The thought looped in his mind simultaneously, _Prussia's dead… Or I'm holding his eyes and tongue along with someone else's… or he's dead…_

The eyes in the main room saw the bag, and they all screamed. They jolted, and most jumped away as though he held a highly venomous creature in his grasp. Even Spain and Latvia had leapt upwards after having had forgotten their leg injuries. They promptly fell and lay quivering on the ground while gazing at the bag in scalding hot fear.

"No!" Ukraine cried. "Our time wasn't up!"

They wailed and cried. When the anxiety was too much to handle, Lithuania cried out, "Open it! I want to know who's dead!"

This could be deducted based on the eyes they should be able to identify in the bag. Germany's hands shook too hard for him to be able to undo the knot. He dropped the bag, and America was the one to recollect it. He was trembling as well, but he managed to work the string out from its knot. The string fell away, and the simple bundle of cloth opened on the ground in front of his crossed legs.

There was no wet gore. All that lay there to be seen were some bundles of hair individually tied with more pieces of string. A stained piece of paper was set on top.

"It's just… hair?" America blinked.

He plucked up the note between his fingers. He read it aloud.

" _I can do anything to them. I want you all to know that_."

Germany seethed with rage. He hissed, "I've never hated someone so much before in my life."

They huddled in to investigate the hair. America separated the five individual bundles and he picked them up one at a time to closely investigate them.

"Blond here. It's either Poland's or Estonia's."

"That's Estonia's," Lithuania said before pointing at the other blond bundle, "And that one's Poland's."

"Prussia," America stated as he held up the next one.

America dropped it into Germany's hand. Germany felt his thumb over the soft, platinum blond strands that were stained slightly from the blood of the bag. He was at the verge of breaking into tears again, but he remembered that a group was already in the tunnels on their way to find Prussia, and this calmed him.

America held brown hair in front of his eyes.

"Hungary," he said.

The final bundle of ash blonde in colour. Ukraine checked it over, and she said, "This is Belarus's."

She looked back down at the collection of hair. She then whined, "Where's Russia's hair?"

Britain murmured, "They don't have him. They only had four when they sent the note, and now they have five because they just got Poland. So now we know for sure that the one missing from their collection is Russia."

America said, "Where is he then?"

"He couldn't have escaped in the condition that he was in," Germany said. "And we last saw him in the jaws of the dogs. He must have been given to the culprit, but now I wonder, if this culprit did not desire to capture him."

"No…" Ukraine choked.

Britain finished Germany's conclusion, "He might have been killed by the hands of the culprit. Russia was the primary target in this whole game, so this person obviously has a powerful hatred for him. If Russia was not included in the original note, where it says that we have to save _four_ people, then that could mean that Russia is already beyond saving."

America wrapped his arms around himself and shook. He groaned, "Shit, no… He can't be dead… I wanted to save him. I need to make up for what I said and did! We all have to apologize to him. We were supposed to make everything better!"

America put his face into his hands. Ukraine was already crying before him, and Latvia scratched at his aching chest as he was overwhelmed with guilt. Latvia whimpered, "I did kill him… It's my fault he's dead!"

America cried, "No, I killed him! I scared him and it's my fault he got hurt! It was because of me that he was helpless when the dogs came! He couldn't save himself from this fucking psycho!"

Lithuania protested, "What if it's another trick? Maybe Russia is with them, and we're only being messed with again?"

"Yeah," Finland agreed nervously. "He might be okay."

"I don't think so," America moaned. "Not this time. I have a feeling that this is serious!"

A soft voice whispered, "Just wait…"

They all flicked their heads over in surprise to see that Canada's eyes were wide open and that he was looking over the hair on the cloth. Britain was still holding him, and he now gazed down at him in surprise, having not known that he was awake.

Canada continued, "We shouldn't panic yet. If we're going to assume something, we should assume the better thing, or else we are just going to hurt ourselves. Let's keep hoping. I don't want us to give up on anyone yet."

Germany was inspired by the calm words that swam from Canada's mouth. They were so easy to cling onto, and the feeling arose from them that made it seem as though one could close one's eyes and everything would turn out okay.

"Canada is completely right." Germany bowed his head. "We cannot give up. When we don't know for sure, believing the worst will only negatively affect us."

There was no choice. The waiting game continued.

* * *

His eyelids glowed orange. Iceland gasped and shot up. The quartz fell from his face and the many deep holes that were poked into his cheek poured blood out freely. It dripped from his jaw as he flung open his eyes.

He had expected to find himself in his sunlit bedroom, waking up from a long nightmare. Instead he found a filthy attic acting as the setting for a scene of utter chaos. Countless boxes stood in leaning stacks, or knocked over so that the papers that had been stored inside them now littered the floor like poor tilework. Rotting pieces of furniture were tucked in the corners, and ancient items lay on murky shelves, such as lanterns and deformed toys. Among it all, bodies struggled as shadows wrestled with them.

Some were thrown across the room and pulled up walls before being dropped. The papers rustled fiercely whenever someone was dragged quickly over them. Iceland turned to see Bulgaria sitting limply against the wall with a wide smear of blood staining the wood behind him. It was a wet lick of crimson that likened the downwards stroke of a large paintbrush, and it crossed over the push-button light switch.

Iceland snapped forward and sank the crystal into the shadow inclining over him. It froze as though shocked. Iceland drew away the quartz when the shadow turned and wandered away as though disinterested. Iceland then pounced away, breathing rapidly through a tight throat to lunge at all the darkness he could reach. He stopped them one-by-one in their tracks to successfully liberate the others from their torment and help the room be quieted when each scream was tranquilized.

Romania and Italy caught Switzerland as he fell from the ceiling. His weapon fell from his hold and thunked on the wood beside them. A shadow promptly swooped down for the three, but Iceland hurled the gem and it passed through the misty chest before landing neatly on a couch. The shadow seemed to forget what it had been doing, and it hovered in place for a few seconds before drifting away.

Norway crashed into a stack of boxes, and old clothes tumbled out and engulfed him. By the time he had clawed a dress out of his eyes, Iceland had replaced the shadow that had been coming for him. A hand had been stretched out and offered to him. Norway took it and was surprised when a single yank had him promptly set upon his feet.

Iceland and Norway looked around, and soon the others were doing so as well. Norway limped away from Iceland in order to be the first to start searching through the disaster. He called out, "Denmark?"

Norway hopped onto a couch and popped his head over the backside. He gasped once catching sight of the twisted body trapped between the space between the couch and the wall. Norway instantly leapt off to drag the couch away, ripping the papers on the floor carelessly in the process.

Denmark was exposed, lying with his body bent at a concerning angle. Norway inhaled sharply and swallowed, "Hey..."

He reached out to feel his throat. Denmark's eyes flickered open at the touch. Norway's shoulders sagged as Denmark responded in an exhale, "Nor…"

Denmark did not move to correct his position. He stayed on the floor staring at Norway in fearful apprehension.

Denmark then asked quietly, "How bad is it?"

Norway murmured, "There's something wrong with your spine."

Denmark replied, "I figured that much… look, I'm trying to move my legs right now. I really am but… I just can't."

Iceland and Vietnam found a table. Together, they broke off the legs and carried over the top.

Vietnam said, "We need to be careful to not make his injury worse. We'll carry him back on this."

In an effort that required many, they carefully slid Denmark onto the tabletop, then stacked whatever weapons they could find in the chaos on top as well. The table was carried by all except for Romania, who had recollected the phone to light their way the best he could, and Italy and Romano, who were guarding the group with the iron weapons. They passed by the shadows aimlessly wandering the room who were no longer aware of their presences.

Italy delicately tapped the blood-covered light switch off and closed the door behind them. He trailed behind the group with the blade held fast in his grip by an arm that did not swing in jovial attitude.

They succeeded in getting the tabletop down the stairs all the way to the level that lay between the first and second floor. Nothing attacked them on their way, as though they had morals that required them to let the enemy retreat in peace.

Vietnam had earlier counted the rows of holes that led to the staircase from the hole they had entered. She halted them under one of them, and here they put down the table.

"This will be tricky," Iceland muttered as he stared upwards.

"I can use my arms," Denmark murmured.

Norway said, "Be really careful with your back."

"I know."

They raised the tabletop as high as they could. Denmark lifted himself into a sitting position with a squeak of pain. His consciousness flickered on and off, but he commanded his muscles to reach upwards and forwards to grab onto the edge. He crawled through and dragged his body over the floor in the small closet. He waited there until the others had gotten out as well and could search for another stable, flat surface to transport him on.

They ended up breaking a work desk to receive another tabletop to lay him out on. Denmark groaned whenever he was moved, and the others winced every time as they looked back at his twisted body. He cried and hissed even after he was still and carefully being led down the hall.

As they came near the stairs going down, they were confused by the corpse of the dog that lay forgotten in the hall. Its head rested on its outstretched forearms, staring at them with the corner of its tongue peeking out from between its teeth. They did not stop to investigate it, and they only carried on.

They gasped once they saw for the first time Canada's legs completely engulfed in bandages. Germany shot his attention away from the hair bundles to regard those coming down towards them. There was a collective gasp from those in the circle this time, as the tabletop bearing Denmark's crooked body was seen. He was set down in the confines of the circle, and Sweden and Finland were soon there at his sides.

"Nobody touch him," Switzerland instructed them. "He has a spinal injury."

"Oh no, Denmark!" Finland cried.

Sweden and Finland tucked scraps of blankets beside his head to keep it still. Denmark stared up at the chandelier, then closed his eyes. Around him, the other members of his group were having their own more minor injuries checked out. Denmark hear Bulgaria telling Seychelles, "Something happened to my shoulder, and now it's worse after carrying Denmark. I can't move the arm anymore; it hurts too much."

Denmark heard about the conditions of the others. They seemed to have only gotten off with bruises and scrapes, but both Switzerland's ankles had been sprained, and once he had finished his duty of carrying Denmark, it seemed that he could no longer stand.

Liechtenstein fretted over Switzerland as he laid over a blanket. Germany watched them, then asked generically, "So, what happened?"

"It was a trap," Denmark muttered. "The attic was full of ghosts. We were attacked, but then Iceland saved everybody."

Iceland had been padding his face with a scrap strip of blanket. He frowned but blushed as grateful eyes looked over at him.

"Damn that Ghost guy," Romano snapped. "That was all a waste of time, and now even _more_ of us are injured. More than half of us have been harmed in some way, and not many are even able to fight!"

Germany knew it was true. He looked around the room and noted those who were in condition to reenter the tunnels. Germany said, "We have to make the next run count then. We have only perhaps two hours left to find them. I want to ignore Ghost and go down this time. There must be a second _basement_ , and that's where they'll be."

"How many will go?" Switzerland asked. "I know we're short on non-injured people, but we really need some to stay back and protect us."

America said, "I'm good to go."

Japan and China nodded while giving each other quick glances. China confirmed for the two of them, "We can fight."

Ukraine cried, "I'm coming!"

Seychelles exclaimed, "Me too!"

"I'm not done yet," Romano growled.

"And I want to be there when we find Hungary," Austria added.

Britain stated, "I will go as well."

"I want to find everyone too!" Italy proclaimed.

Germany gasped and stared at him. He uttered, "It's dangerous. You should stay behind."

Italy shook his head, exclaiming, "No, I can do it! I want to help. I don't want to stay behind anymore while everyone else goes out. When we all get out of here, I want to know that I did my best to save them too!"

"We got the least hurt from that last attack," Romano commented. "The necklaces will help enough."

Germany did not want to permit it. Every ounce of him wanted to forbid Italy from following him into the dark. However, he did not want to drag on this topic in front of the others, especially because the deadline was constantly drawing nearer.

 _I'll just have to watch over him too_ , Germany decided.

"Alright," he said. "But no more."

Germany then stalked over to where the phone was charging. He unplugged it and asked, "Whose phone is this?"

"Oh, mine," Lithuania said.

Germany took it back and he passed it to him. Germany said, "I want you to be ready. I am going to call you from Poland's cell phone the moment we find the missing people. Get everyone into the vehicles now, and when I call, I want you all to leave. We must not waste any time in getting everyone to the hospital."

"I understand," Lithuania replied. "We won't leave the property until you tell us to."

"Call the police and the ambulance for us too. We cannot afford to waste time."

"I will do that."

Germany nodded, but then asked after another thought struck him, "What name does Poland have you as on his phone?"

"It's just Liet."

Germany was relieved that it would be so easy to recall. _Lietuva_ ; his native name.

"And do you know his password?"

Germany did not want to risk assuming that they would find Poland conscious. He did not want to have their time wasted just because he could not get the phone unlocked.

"Oh, yeah," Lithuania said. "He doesn't do a good job in making passwords. His is 1-2-3-4."

Germany nodded, glad that this as well would be easy to remember.

America then suggested, "Let's leave one good weapon here."

"Make it the gun," Germany said. "I don't want any accidents to happen in the dark. The gun is too fast."

Finland claimed the rifle, and America emptied his pockets of the bullet packs in order to to give everything to him. America then joined everyone else in arming themselves. They took the knives and pans that had not been forgotten in the attic and had been brought back downstairs. The Italian brothers took back the hedge clipper blades, and China and Japan reclaimed their respective scythe and shovel that were still dirtied from their previous battle. Germany was confident enough with his steak knife, and he felt that it was best that the weapons effective on ghosts go to those not as comfortable in fighting as he was.

Romania slid Poland's phone into Germany's left hand. That was the final thing he needed to take care of before he led the armed group up the stairs. Germany inhaled deeply as adrenaline began to rush through him. Beside and behind him, he heard the pounding of many feet; it was an nonrhythmic sound that nonetheless heightened his courage. Germany continued breathing deeply, like a long-distance racer trying to calm their nerves and clear their head before the bang of the gun.

His eyes sharpened, and briefly flashed over the dried blood on the carpet of the staircase. He remembered Belarus's scream in the darkness, and how her blood had felt sticky on his hands after he had touched the freshly stained railing. Just over four days ago this had happened; an eternity in this mansion. The blood had long since stiffened and become discoloured. However, he remembered her bundle of hair, and he thought, _We will find you soon_.

Those who had not known about the dead dog were surprised to find it there. They jumped at the sight of it, but then they realized that it was not in any condition to lunge at them. Romano had by now sided Germany in order to show him the way to the hole, and these two walked swiftly away to give the others no time for sightseeing.

Germany laid his eyes for the first time upon the broken wall that revealed a secret closet. Germany paused before he led the group into it and down into the awaiting, pure black hole. He turned to them and said, "I do not know what we are going to find down there. We may find them all bound up but healthy, or they might be long dead. We might run into malicious spirits like those in the attic, dogs, or another threat that we never have encountered before. I want you all to be ready. Expect anything to happen. Be prepared to be hurt, and know that you may die. If that thought is too much for you, you may leave now."

Not a single person moved. They only stared at Germany steadily. Germany spun around and stepped into the closet. He slid his legs into the hole and dropped down. Once he was standing on the floor of the tunnel, he powered on the phone and let its screen beam a nearly powerless light around him. He had his knife brandished as he listened carefully and checked the nearest shadows, but all seemed to be calm in the tunnel.

When Japan heard his footsteps moving away, he entered as well. China came in after, wincing when the shock made the bite wound on his hamstrings sting. These two moved closer to Germany, and Austria, Ukraine, and Seychelles made up the next row after them. Romano, Italy, then America and Britain took up the rear.

They came to the pair of staircases where the previous group had chosen the one to go up. After glaring at that one, Germany took them down. The flight came to a level that Germany knew to be directly under the first floor. Here he was certain that if he walked further along until he was directly under the main room, he would be able to hear everything.

 _This is how we were spied on_ , Germany thought. _The culprit could have just been standing under us the whole time, hearing our arguments and the fight. At the right time, they would have just hurried down this tunnel to a door that probably gets into the cellar somehow. The door might be disguised with stone, and that's how we missed it. It would explain Hungary's disappearance too. The door could have been opened right in front of her, and no one would have seen it in the darkness._

There was another staircase that went down. Germany turned the corner and proceeded down it to what was going to be a new level that no one had known about. The stairs ended here, and the hall that they came to was the size of one the normal ones. They passed by small tables with little glass items residing on their tops, and many old paintings that hung on the walls on either side as though their purpose was to account for lack of doors.

They were obligated to go only forward down the large hall which surprisingly had a decorated carpet stretching out its length as though put there to welcome them. The mahogany colour and the designs made from golden thread were the exact same as the carpets upstairs that covered most of the house. Yet there seemed to be an utter lack of beauty here whereas there was still some identifiable upstairs. Here, a general feeling of abandonment hung in the atmosphere. The walls were filthy and stained with uncertain blackness which seemed to drip down like sorrowful tears.

Germany shone the light along the wall closest to him and to the darkness beside him where the opposite wall could not be seen. Weapons were for the most part pointed in that direction in expectation that things could be hidden in those impenetrable shadows.

"Germany," Britain's voice came out carefully from the back. "Can the light reach the ceiling?"

Germany raised his arm and pointed the screen up to the ceiling. The dark shape of a ceiling light could be made out.

"You think we can get electricity down here?" America asked.

"There was power upstairs in that attic," Romano said. "There's probably some down here too."

Germany took the time to swerve side-to-side to check both walls carefully so as to not miss any light switch that might be there. After going on like this for another minute, a stained switch was found stuck between two paintings. Germany flicked it, and after a blink, the lights all down the hall burst to life. Unexpectedly bright light burned away all shadows, and after a quick check, Germany realized that the light bulbs were new, fluorescent ones.

 _Everything is all prepared for us_ , he thought.

He turned the phone off and pocketed it. The group walked forward swiftly now that they could see no enemies in the premises, and they were confident now that they were in the ever so comfortable light. With the obtainment of it as well, they could now see at the very end of the hall a wooden door and something covered in a black cloak leaning against it.

Seychelles gasped, "That's not a person, is it?"

The thing against the door was tall and thin, but they could not tell if it was a standing person for the cloak collected on the floor and would have covered any possible feet. The fabric was loose and did not cling to the form of what lay underneath, so nothing was confirmed. Only at the top, the cloak wrapped around something solid. Black cotton rested over a smooth curve and shot up suddenly in the middle into a thick point. The group was left in doubt upon what it could be because of that curious outline.

"Suspicious as hell," America muttered.

They came closer. It still did not move in the slightest. Germany stepped ahead and sauntered up to it. The hand that had been charged previously with the duty of holding the phone was now free to reach out and touch the round surface that was doned in black. Even as he held his fingertips lightly upon it, it still did not move.

Germany pinched the cloth and very carefully pulled the cloak away. Black slithered over white, and after a tug, it escaped the point of sharpened wood. Slowly, his horror increased as more of the cloth slipped away. Germany's mouth had parted unintentionally as he was left in absolute shock in the face of the skull before him. The two black eyes peered into his, and for a second he was lost in those dry orbits until his gaze creaked upwards to notice a glorious gleam bouncing off the perfectly polished bone. His eyes skipped over cracks and indentations until he found the massive chipped hole at the top wherein a stake burst outwards.

Ukraine screamed and fell to her knees while America could be heard choking. Germany followed down the length of the stake that the skull was impaled on, and he finally noticed it. Pinned to the wood by a nail, a metallic purple scarf that was in tatters hung stiffly due to the coat of rusty red that entirely covered it. Finally, further down, a piece of paper had also been stuck to the stick. A message in capital letters stood out in scratchy writing:

 _GAME OVER. YOU WIN. COLLECT YOUR PRIZES._

" _No!_ " Ukraine screeched. " _Russia, no!_ "

She sobbed and barged past the others to snatch the large skull. She yanked it upwards, twisting it until it slid off the stake. She wailed and hugged it tightly to her chest while rocking back and forth. America collapsed and bent over his knees with his arms pressed tightly against his stomach. He was balling like he had before after he had seen Russia lying over the rocks, bones jutting out from his body and blood spreading outwards from him. America felt uncontrollable, powerful guilt for all of his actions that had resulted to this moment. He fell into a fit of coughs that made it seem as though he was about to retch over the elegant carpet.

Germany whirled around with an exclamation flying out from him, "We don't know if it's him!"

Ukraine shook her head constantly, whimpering, "Poor Russia… My poor little brother…"

"This might be a distraction!" Germany exclaimed. "Snap out of it!"

She mewled and stroked the cranium repeatedly. Germany gave up and decided to throw the stake away to snatch the door handle. He did not hesitate in the slightest. He shoved in the door and marched into the pitch-black room, calling out simultaneously, "We're here!"

Light from the other room threw a rectangle of white over the group that followed him in, but the rest of the room was sealed by shadows. Everyone noticed instantly however, the multiple pricks of light that pierced through the darkness. Twenty pairs of yellow dots sparkled, blinked, and shifted from restlessness.

From deep in the obscurity, a Slavic voice muttered, "Kill them all."

The room erupted into a cacophony of snarls and barks, and the eyes raced for them. White flashed, and then the light burst on so that they could see the entirety of the massive room and the swarm of yellow-gray bodies incoming.

There was nothing left to do. Germany exploded into savagery with a booming war cry tearing out from his throat. He sank the knife into side of a dog's throat, and he jammed it deeper, holding the other side of its neck to push it into the blade. The dog panicked and thrashed, but Germany spat viciously and ripped out the knife before mercilessly kicking the dog away. His silver flashed as he spun and slashed across the face of a second dog as the first one still whimpered and kicked on the floor as it died slowly.

Germany did not think of his own dogs. He could find no comparison to them in the slightest. Nothing had changed since he had heard the tale from Romania; these were still the yellow-eyed monsters that prowled through the cemetery at night searching for flesh to tear.

He did not think of anything else at that time but, _Nothing is going to get in my way!_

He heard the sounds of struggle, other bloodthirsty screams, and occasional yips. The furry bodies recalculated as they saw comrades falling after direct attacks. Many trotted away to the sides to avoid the weapons and to get around their prey. The exit from the room was essentially cut off by this, and now the group of ten was completely surrounded. Flashing white fangs shot out at them now from all sides, and this was how everything changed.

Germany hollered when paws slammed against his back and caused him to stumble forward in a fight to keep his balance. Wet teeth grazed the back of his neck, but then Germany delivered an elbow into its ribs and it dropped off.

Now Germany no longer heard war cries, but shrieks of terror and pain. He whipped his head to the side and he saw a dog jerking its head side-to-side with Italy's blade-wielding arm clutched between its jaws. Germany gasped and watched as another dog completed a powerful leap that launched it over the other one. It smashed into Italy and it slammed him to the ground. Italy screamed out in terror as the muzzle raced to get under his chin.

"Italy!" Germany cried.

Fangs hooked into his quadriceps, and Germany roared. He twisted in order to plunge the knife into the dog's head, but then another soared through the air and crashed into his side. Germany screamed in rage and panic as he hit the ground. He wrestled madly against the dogs snapping at whatever flesh they could reach, and he flipped his head to the side to see Italy failing to hold off the dogs on him.

" _No!_ " he roared.

Then another yell rose over the growls of the dogs. Romano lunged forward with the hedge clipper blade pointed forward like a rapier, hollering, "Don't you touch him!"

Germany saw him going for the dog biting Italy's arm, and his mind cried, _What are you doing? Get the one going for his throat!_

Romano's blade sliced in between his ribs, and his weight and momentum carried the dog completely off Italy. Germany then could only watch in fascination as Italy instantly shot his arm upwards the moment it was free. The blade stabbed upwards from under the dog's chin, going right through his mouth and bone to embed itself in its brain. Italy grimaced and shoved the corpse off him, standing and remorselessly kicking it away so that his fluid-covered blade was drawn free.

Germany was blown away. He mind seemed to choke, _Italy?_

Then two other dogs hurled themselves at him and Germany screamed when he was overwhelmed. He was crushed under the weight, and he gasped for air as teeth tore into him from seemingly everywhere. He felt his own blood splashing over him, and skin being pulled off. He covered his throat and kicked out, but the weight of the animals on his legs kept him from being able to struggle. A dog bit his hands, trying to reach its throat, and Germany arched his back and cried in agony when his bones crunched between its teeth.

He had accidentally made the error of opening up his gut for attack. Instantly two mouths dug into him and searched frantically for his soft parts. Germany panicked as the teeth scraped closer to his organs, and true animalistic terror set in. Another additional dog dove upon the felled body. Germany squealed like an injured rabbit caught under a predator's claws, and he squirmed spastically.

 _No, Prussia!_ he thought. _No, no! I can't die! I have to see him! I can't die!_

Germany stared into the dark eyes of the dog on his chest snapping at its neck. It blocked out visual of the other two dogs that were becoming ecstatic as they swallowed his blood and revealed his muscles. They hurried to dig in, but then a frying pan intercepted one of them and its head dented inwards. The other was startled, and looked to the side as the weapon descended. Metal pounded against its forehead, and its eyes popped before it dead-flopped over the wounds it had created.

The dog by his face yipped as it was struck in the side. It stumbled off him, and then Germany finally saw his savior. Austria's face was fantastically twisted into one that could belong to a demonic warrior, and Germany was stunned by the incredible strength that came from a body that he had before known to be weak.

Austria bled from the face, but the red could have been warpaint for he did not seem to feel the pain, and his eyes only shone brightly in the middle of it all. His magnificent butler costume was ripped in many places, and blood poured out heavily from the cuts. Austria appeared as though he was barely held together, and yet he gave the impression that he was indestructible.

His pan was covered in blood and strands of hair. He made no sound; only his teeth were bared as he finished off the dog he had struck before with another bone-busting hit. Germany managed to pounce to his feet and drive his knife into an eyeball. He broke into its skull then withdrew his knife to wash the blade in new blood when other dog had attacked.

Germany knew that he would not become distracted again, and his next course of action was to stick with Austria. Together they guarded each other's backs, and were there to aid the other if a swift monster took one of them down. They worked as a brutally effective team, for never before had those two ever felt a passion as strong as this. Across the room, they saw a final door kept out of reach from them by this last obstacle. Nothing in the world could have stood in their way and not be challenged. Austria and Germany slaughtered left and right in order to conquer the obstacle and win. Their hearts pounded and blood flew from them and the enemy as they all danced this crimson dance for the last time.

 _We will not lose_ , Germany thought. _We will win, together, like we agreed we would on that first night so long ago!_

Ukraine yelled as she slit a dog's throat. Blood squirted hot and fresh over her hands, and she did not hesitate to spin around and slice the neck of another leaping for her. Japan stumbled backwards and ended up beside her, as he reared back his arm to strike the head of the animal that had been charging him. China zipped in to catch a dog pouncing for Japan's back, and the scythe snapped down and partially decapitated it. The body toppled over and the head hung from it by fleshy threads.

America and Britain were nearly pressed back-to-back as they felled any creature that came at them. Seychelles skipped in the way that she would on the sunny beaches of her home, but the purpose today was to hurry to crush the skulls of every murderous canine still standing. She leaped nimbly over the large number of corpses that littered the floor, over the lonely bodies and those collapsed in piles.

The noise lessened gradually when the slashing of metal continued to end individual growls permanently. It seemed so sudden to them that the room had become calm so that the only sound that remained was that of their heavy breathing. They turned to find each other standing like islands in a sea of carnage, bearing red weapons and painted fronts and limbs. No longer could one tell what was human blood, and what was dog blood. It made them appear in a rougher state to be so utterly drenched, but because they were still standing, no concern arose.

They dragged their feet between the bodies on a direct route to the door. Germany was the first to reach it, and he set his ravaged hand onto the handle and pushed down. The door swung into a room that already had the light on. Germany could see everything, and it took only an instant for blue irises to find the rosy ones with those memorable hints of purple tainting the lower halves.

Germany dove across the short room and captured Prussia into a tight embrace. The mess of Germany's clothes was forgotten as he squeezed his biceps against Prussia's sides and rubbed his hands all over his back. Germany held in nothing, and so he hung his chin over Prussia's shoulder and cried openly. Prussia's chains rattled when he attempted but failed to return the hug. He instead let Germany envelope him in absolute warmth, and Prussia put his face against Germany's shoulder and let out a shaking breath as he too began to weep.

"Hungary!" Austria cried. He dashed forward and caught her around the middle. His arms slipped around her and his eyes shut slowly. Two tears burst out and sprinted down his face as he cracked a clean smile. He murmured her name repeatedly while he held her gently but securely tight because his heart did not want to allow them to be separated again.

Belarus's face was also soaked in tears as Ukraine held her close and stroked her back. Belarus flopped into her and rested her face on her collarbone, murmuring, "Ukraine…"

Ukraine sobbed although a small smile wavered on her lips. She whispered, "I have you, dear sister. Oh, at least I got one of you back..."

Britain had found the key ring that had been set in the middle of the room on the floor. He turned it in the lock on Estonia's wrist, and it clicked before unclasping. Estonia was silently crying as one-by-one his limbs were freed.

"Thank you," he whispered.

As Britain released Poland, Estonia dipped his head to the side and closed his eyes. America shook his arm and said, "Hey, dude?"

Hungary gasped in recollection, "Estonia needs to get to the hospital! The infection is killing him!"

"What?" America exclaimed. He then noticed the multicoloured, inflamed wound that was scored across Estonia's abdomen.

It finally clicked for Germany. He frantically retrieved the phone that had been settled deep into his pocket, and he powered it on. He stared at the lock screen in panic, believing for a moment that he had made a costly mistake, but then he remembered that he did indeed know the password and that the phone's owner was beside him regardless. Germany tapped 1-2-3-4, and then pressed the calling app. He scrolled quickly through the contacts that were for the most part strangely named, until he found glowing almost angelically the name _Liet_.

He pressed it with a sigh. After half a ring, Lithuania responded in a gasp, "Germany?"

From far away, Lithuania had sat up swiftly in the back seat of the car. Latvia and Moldova jolted, and Bulgaria and Romania whipped their heads back to stare at him from the front seats.

Germany said, "The game is over. Get everyone out of here."

"Got it. We're going."

Lithuania hung up, and the car he was in roared to life as Romania turned the key. Gravel crunched under the tires, the first on this road to do so in quite a long time. Their car turned around, and sped away to lead a line of other cars after it.

Down in the deepest level of the mansion looming far from the road, the chains of the five prisoners were unlocked. Hungary stood on her own despite her malnourished appearance, but the rest required to be carried. Germany was horrified to find after drifting out of his hug from Prussia that a deep, straight cut crossed from Prussia's lowest rib to his opposite hip. Belarus as well had her diaphragm cut like Estonia's had been, although she had escaped infection. Poland only sported the fresh injury he had received in his lower back, but he was even more weak and stiff now that time had passed.

Austria and Hungary were the first to walk from the room, and then Germany made it out with Prussia clinging onto his back. Ukraine had Belarus, who had her head and arms flopped exhaustedly over her shoulders. Britain took Poland onto his back, and China and Japan carried Estonia between them. Estonia gasped in pain when he was moved, and he felt his fever squeezing his head. He groaned and hardly saw the floor covered in blood and dead bodies as the agony electrified him.

It was as they were crossing the room that Belarus weakly asked, "Where's Russia?"

Ukraine stiffened, and tears burst from her eyes. Germany responded before she did, "He escaped."

Ukraine gawked at stared at Germany's back although it was mostly covered by Prussia.

 _How could you lie to her?_ Ukraine thought.

"The scarf!" she gasped. "The skull!"

Belarus's fatigue was gone in an instant.

" _Skull?_ " she shrieked by Ukraine's ear. "Where's Russia? What happened to him?"

"He's fine."

Belarus screamed, " _What did you do to him?_ "

Poland had not yet explained the most recent events to the other four he had joined in imprisonment. The last thing Belarus remembered was that the others had been firmly accusing Russia. She suspected the worst from them, and America sniffed as he felt the guilt in understanding that she was completely right to accuse them.

They walked through the next doorway, and then Belarus saw on the floor the cleaned skull and the destroyed, blood-soaked scarf. Belarus screeched and threw herself from off Ukraine's back. She dragged herself across the floor with desperate clawing motions until the skull was clutched between her hands. Her body shifted forward just enough so that she could curl over the skull.

The others halted and stared at her without any idea as to what they should do. After obtaining only five of the six missing people, Germany finally accepted the horrifying meaning of the skull that he had rejected earlier, and everyone else did as well. Guilt and sorrow immobilized all except for Ukraine, who had dived after her sister try to recollect her.

Belarus's eyes widened and she raised her head. She did not take notice of Ukraine however, and she only focused on nothing as a sob exited her throat. One of her hands raised to the side of her face, feeling the skin that was hot from tears and knowing that the nightmare was real. A thin wail was emitted as she rolled onto her back with the skull held to her chest. She convulsed from lung spasms as she stared at the ceiling

"N-No-no…" she coughed. "N-Not… no, no..."

"I'm sorry," America whimpered. "I-I'm… I'm so sorry!"

Belarus slammed her eyes shut and shrieked, " _Why?_ "

America went rigid and the tears exploded from his eyes. He scrunched up his face and yelled out with a tear-strained voice, " _Oh god, I did kill him!_ "

Britain gasped, "What are you saying? This wasn't you-"

" _No!_ " Belarus screeched. " _No!_ "

Her heart that jolted in dark rage allowed her to forget her injury. Belarus shot off the ground and bowled into America. People leapt out of the way as the two crashed to the floor and Belarus seized America by the throat. America's eyes snapped open and his lips quivered as Belarus's hands pressed inwards with all of her power. Her arms shook heavily while she leaned over him, gasping, bawling, and staring down into America's face until he locked eyes with her.

Hands grabbed at her, and she released one of her hands from America's throat to claw and punch. She raked flesh and caught skin under her nails, and lines of blood welled up on Seychelles arm. Italy and Romano raced forward and successfully hooked their arms around hers, and they stumbled backwards and managed to pull her away. The throat was ripped from her grasp, and America's head snapped back and thunked against the carpet.

Belarus screamed and fought wildly everyone who touched her. She bashed her elbows backwards and swung out her legs, booting bones and soft parts. Once her arms were free, she charged at America as he was climbing back to his feet. Sorrowful eyes looked back at her, and America did not move. He let himself be pounded by the punches until he crashed against the wall. He gasped when she swung out a kick and smashed her tibia deep into his gut.

He fell onto his side and lay still. Belarus stepped forward and raised her foot to stomp his head, but then a hand gently touched her shoulder.

Ukraine's teary voice pleaded into her ear, "Please, Belarus, stop what you're doing! This… this won't change anything."

Belarus slowly dropped her foot down onto the ground. America breathed heavily but still looked up at Belarus and Ukraine with the most profound regret darkening his face. He said nothing, but the gaze that Belarus met clearly expressed his desire to suffer more.

Despite Ukraine's words, she lifted her leg back to prepare to strike his face and shatter his glasses. She then stopped and dropped her leg to instead lifted her head back and wail to the empty, upper levels, " _Russia!_ "

She fell back onto the floor and snatched the skull to cry over. Ukraine dropped down to squeeze her and weep more of her ever so vain tears. Ukraine realized after a few seconds that their time was being wasted, and her own words reminded her harshly, _This won't change anything._

Tears and quivers broke out around the room. No one could escape the pain, and could not feel the loss and the regret. In that moment, all of them realized how final it was; how permanent their actions had been. No eyes escaped saturation. Every person around the room felt something shatter within them, and with it, a part of them escaped like ungraspable mist.

Ukraine said, "We must go."

She let go of Belarus, stood up, and held her hands out. Belarus stared up at her without understanding at first.

Ukraine murmured, "Let's take him home now, Belarus. We won't leave him here. Since the beginning, we've always said that we would all leave together."

More tears streamed down Belarus's face as her lip quivered, but she carefully passed the skull into Ukraine's hands without a word. Ukraine turned around and lowered herself, waiting expectantly. After a few seconds, Belarus climbed onto her back with Russia's blood-covered scarf wrapped around her neck.

The stake, cloak, and message were left behind as the group walked onwards. The darkness was around them once more, but fear could not be remembered as grief overtook everything else. Blackness and footsteps; but nothing else could be remembered in the journey back up to the second level. They were left ignorant of the invisible eyes that watched them departing, who were attracted by the powerful energy being emitted from them.

The shadows followed them out, yet they were not given any attention by the group. They did not desire it either, for the shadows did not attack. The one darkness that rendered the mansion into a state of hostility had already fled into the forest, swallowed by the mist as easily as a dream.

All that remained was a weary darkness, and the shadows walked slowly behind them with drooped shoulders and heads, as though they were longing after a bed to finally lie back in to sleep. Breathy, mournful moans surrounded them, likening a sad song of farewell. The group walked through the salt circle, trampling over the pillows and sheets mindlessly. The shadows drifted around the circumference, until they were stopped by the salt by the door. Here, they stood and continued their melancholic melody as they watched the last of the guests departing.

They heard the wail of approaching sirens as they padded down the path to the road for the final time. Germany listened to the crunch of gravel under their feet, and fresh tears were produced as he was reminded of the first time he had walked down this path with Italy and Prussia. He remembered beholding the mansion for the first time with them, and how awed they had been by the size.

 _We had no idea what would come after we passed through that door._

Germany exhaled and focused on the weight of Prussia clinging to his back. Never had he ever felt so fortunate in his long life. Behind them there were forces that he could not control; nightmares that he had been forced to accept. From their grasp, he had recovered his brother alive although all the previous misfortune had made it seem that none of them should have survived.

 _He's okay_ , he thought. _After all the blood and suffering, he still turned out alive._

Yet Germany would never say that anything had been worth it. This game of darkness was indeed at its end, however he knew that despite what the sign had said, they did not win. The skull held gently in Ukraine's grasp only proved that only they had lost in the end.

 _The culprit is the only true winner._

The police met them, and after a few Romanian sentences were slipped out without receiving replies, they switched to English. Estonia, Prussia, Belarus, and Poland were soon ushered into the ambulances. Germany was informed where they were going, and brief directions were given before they departed. Germany stared after the ambulances and he was conscious of the feeling of Prussia's weight no longer on his shoulders.

 _But he's in good hands now. I'll see him again soon._

He took Italy, Romano, and Britain into his car while the others were led into police cars in order to be driven as well to the hospital. Germany sped after them, but they were lost from view as the emergency vehicles picked up speed and raced away.

Those in cars pressed against the windows and watched the trees of the forest flash by. They all knew that on one side, the most horrifying and still unsolved secrets were hidden. On the other side, they could only wonder if more ancient darknesses were out there in that unexplored territory. After everything that had happened, they still could not be certain how much they had found, and how much remained still hidden away from the rest of the world at the ends of damp, cold tunnels.

The forest was gone so suddenly. Streets and houses appeared to their sides and they felt as though they had been welcomed into a warm embrace. Nothing here likened anything that they had become familiar with in the mansion. Here, they could let those memories slide away and be forgotten. Their hearts beat in a hesitant excitement as they finally realized that they were free.

Ukraine sighed as she sat back and stared out the front window. She heard Romanian being spoken on the car's radio, to which one of the officers occasionally responded to. She tried to focus on simple things such as this to ease her pain. She listened to the hum of the engine, and she watched the streetlamps and buildings go by. She saw teenagers walking together with shopping bags around their arms and with their phones in hand, and for a moment she distracted herself with the spinning back tire of a bicycle of a cyclist that the car was approaching.

Ukraine then saw a family strolling contently together, with relaxed parents overlooking blissful, skipping children. Her red eyes were locked on them until the car passed them and they disappeared from sight. However, the sight of their happiness in being together had stabbed her heart with a cold blade. Ukraine sniffed, and she stroked the top of the skull settled on her lap.

Her fingers caressed the smooth bone, and she thought of how different it felt when it lacked soft, ash blond hair, and when a hole with sharp chips dominated the center. She began to cry as she continued caressing her hand over the forehead in the same motion that she used before when she had pet Russia to calm him.

She thought of how she had made his tears stop before with just this simple action. She remembered him shaking and crying those first nights at the mansion, and although she had not been able to help him sleep, she had had the ability to take away some of his fear, even if it was only a little bit. All she had to do was caress his head, and he would close his eyes and relax.

As the mansion grew even further away, Ukraine leaned over while still stroking the skull with a gentle touch of absolute warmth and love. Like on one of those nights when he whispered to her that he was scared for what was to come, she murmured very softly, "Everything will be okay."


	17. The Changing of Colours

The sharp wind of late November swept over everything, chilling it with its touch. The black coat of the visitor billowed, and gloved hands dug into pockets while his head bowed. His legs carried him up the cement steps bordered by black iron hand railings. His hand found the brass door knocker, and he pounded it three firm, confident times before he stepped back and waited politely.

After half a minute, soft footsteps were heard nearing the door. The door was carefully dragged inwards, then an old lady dressed in cozy, floral-designed clothes stood in full sight behind her four-wheeled walker. She blinked at the unrecognizable young man who wore casual clothes to bear the weather. He had amber eyes that twinkled with kindness, and his eyebrows were raised in an innocent manner. She relaxed as she decided to put some trust into this stranger.

"Hello there." She gave him a smile.

"I am sorry to disturb you," he said, "But would you happen to be Ana Dobrescu?"

"Yes, that would be me."

A hand was stretched out to her. She gladly reached out and shook it as he introduced himself.

"I am Romania."

"Romania?" she gasped softly. "Oh, are you really him?"

"Yes." Romania nodded carefully. "So, perhaps you know now why I am here?"

A look of pity absorbed her face, and her dark eyes that were set deep in her wrinkles glimmered.

"I do," she sighed. "Please come in, Mr. Romania."

He followed her into the small home that was full of comforting scents. There was the smell of baked goods, and also the calming scent that seemed to be innate to the elderly was embedded into the furniture. He removed his shoes and coat, then he closed the door for her before moving into the living room. Romania was invited to sit on the clean couch, and he sank into its wonderful softness gladly.

"If you would wait a minute," Ana said. "I would love to fetch you something to eat and drink."

"Thank you," Romania smiled.

She shuffled away then returned with a plate of assorted biscuits and a glass of cranberry juice, all carried for her by her walker. She set everything down on the coffee table in front of Romania before seating herself down beside him.

"You are very kind," Romania said.

Ana moaned, "Oh, but you poor thing! I heard about everything on the news about what happened at that horrid mansion. If only I had known that you were going to buy it. How I would have pleaded with you to never go there!"

"I have already moved," Romania told her. "I have all my things out, and I have plans to get the place demolished so that no one else will purchase it again."

The old woman placed her hand over her heart.

"Bless you, Romania."

He took a sip of the juice and sampled a biscuit that had a cream filling between the two wafers. The two complimented each other well. Romania swallowed at the same time a high cry arose from somewhere below his knee. He glanced down and saw a chubby, white cat with gray splotches standing and looking up at him with a raised tail. Its body wiggled before it launched its mass barely successfully onto the couch. It sniffed at his offered hand before putting itself under it as it climbed onto him.

Romania let it curl into a heavy ball on his lap. He stroked it lightly as he said, "Ms. Dobrescu, could we talk about your experiences at that house?"

"Of course," she replied. "After all, I know that this is why you came. Mind you, I would not tell this to anyone else but you. I know you will understand, for you have lived that nightmare, but my own family would never understand."

"You were the one who killed your family, weren't you?"

She was startled, but then she dropped her shoulders and sighed, "So you already figured it out."

"There was one other dark spirit, wasn't there? One with red eyes?"

"Yes," she murmured. "It posessed me after I accidentally released it from its prison. I remember it so well. It was pure black, and it fidgeted a lot. Its eyes were bright, and there were drops of blood floating around and around. When you look into those eyes, you see what you want to. It shows you dreams and gives you hope, and that is what it did to me. It came close, and then it took me. I remember nothing, but I woke and I was covered in blood and holding a knife. I found out immediately what it had made me do. I do not know where it went, but I fled that house. I lied to the police, and they believed me. I was only seven, crying and scared. They never suspected that I would have slaughtered my whole family."

Romania asked, "And where did you find that ghost?"

"One day I was exploring the forest," she said. "And I came across a tunnel near an empty shed. The entrance was ringed with rocks, and I was curious. I went back to the house and borrowed a lantern. I took it down into the tunnel, and I found a door. There was a cross carved into the wood, but unfortunately I did not know its meaning. I opened the door, and then I saw far back in the room the red eyes glowing in the darkness. I ran, but I was stupid and I left the door open. It escaped, but I did not know it until a minute later, when it had gotten ahead of me and appeared suddenly on the path."

"Aha." He nodded. "Germany talked about that tunnel before. A dog got in there, but we never did find anything inside except for some old rope, but I didn't sense anything off about it. There was a cross over the other door into the room, as he said, so I should have realized how strange it was that there was nothing in that room."

"I did not want anyone to live there ever again," Ana continued. "I begged my uncle not to sell it, but he did. I could not tell him that the reason was more than just that our family was killed there. He would have believed that I was insane. Eventually, I heard that the family had soon moved out after their daughter committed suicide, and that their smallest girl was nearly crushed by a falling chandelier. How guilty I felt that I had not warned them! I had been too scared to go back, and too worried that I would get sent to a mental hospital."

"Ms. Dobrescu, I have another question," Romania said. He stroked the cat that was already vibrating from deep purrs.

"Ask away, dearie."

"Did you know about the secret levels?"

"Yes," she replied. "But they were not considered secret when I was there. When we bought the house, we were told about them and given the keys. We hid our valuables in those halls, and we often went down to the bottom level to use the large room as a recreation area. It was also a pleasant reading spot."

"Did the next family know?"

"I do not think so," Ana said. "The keys were left there for them, but I never told them about the other levels, and my uncle did not know about them. They would have just wondered what those keys could be used for."

 _The final guy who lived there could not have known either_ , Romania thought. _He never told me about the levels. He also never gave me the keys, which means that he never got them either. Someone stole them between the time of the last family and that man. It was just like we thought. The culprit moved into the mansion with the dogs at that time, and he must have taken the keys and found the levels himself._

"So you never met Ghost."

"Who?"

"A ghost with black hair, old clothes, and light purple eyes."

"I never saw what the ghosts looked like," she said. "And in my time, there were not as many as what you all reported."

Romania looked down to the cat with a slight frown on his lips.

Ana regarded the content expression on her cat's face, before she added, "Did you happen to say purple eyes?"

"Yes."

"How very uncommon in people like us. I thought it is something that many of you nation folk have though?"

Romania nodded, "It is."

"Then are you sure that it is not one of you? I remember it now. I heard one of you talking about that Ghost on TV. Are you certain that it was a ghost?"

"My brother said he was, and he is familiar with the supernatural."

"Yet everyone was told to be on a lookout for a man of that description. You doubt it, then?"

"The culprit escaped the house," Romania replied. "The ghosts have turned back into their peaceful, ignorant states. We are quite certain that Ghost is the culprit, whoever he is."

"But do you not believe your brother?"

"I don't know. Perhaps he was mistaken."

Ana asked, "What made him believe that Ghost was a ghost?"

Romania replied, "Moldova claimed to have felt cold near him, and that his energy was affected negatively. Just regular indicators of a ghost's presence."

Ana _hmm_ ed, then said, "Would you feel these things in the presence of a possessed person?"

Romania gasped and blinked rapidly. He answered, "I think that would be correct!"

A warm feeling of respect for this woman overtook him. He suddenly appreciated greatly her intelligence as she continued, "Then is it possible that a nation came into the mansion and became possessed by the spirit I released almost seventy years ago?"

"You must be right!" he exclaimed. "It would explain how they knew us, and why they had such an intense hatred for Russia!"

Ana asked, "But you do not know any nation of that description?"

"I cannot think of anyone," Romania sighed. "Moldova said he looked young, with a shaven face and then those purple eyes and black hair. A lot of us have purple eyes, but black hair too? Nothing's coming to me. Even if I did recall the name though, it won't help us from finding out where he's hiding."

"But it might, Mr. Romania. You never know if they want to stay close to home; somewhere they're familiar with."

"I'll talk about this with the others. Maybe someone will come up with a name eventually."

Romania finished off the juice and another biscuit. He carefully deposited the ball of cat onto the adjacent cushion, then stood up. He politely thanked Ana for all of her help, and she got herself up in order to give him a hug of farewell and to provide him with a feeling of support.

She trailed him to the front door. She watched him slip his coat back on and button it up, then bend down to lace his shoes. Once he was ready, he opened the door and began to step out. He stopped and glanced back when Ana said, "Good luck in finding him. Bring that criminal to justice."

"Certainly. Goodbye, Ms. Dobrescu."

"Goodbye, Mr. Romania."

* * *

The identity and location of the culprit was still unknown. Time passed, and the seasons changed easily. Snow piled on the ground and Christmas decorations were strung up. In one point in time, Belarus was staring out the window at the illuminated, cold city that lay under the cloudless night sky. The house smelled of sweets and cheer, but she was far from feeling any merriment. Ukraine was standing behind her, looking out the window as well, as though the cure for their sorrow was written in the stars.

Time left that moment behind. Hours changed the scene as they passed, and it was the same for those days and weeks that also went by. The decorations were gone and the snow piled higher before sinking with almost a sigh in the assailing thaw. Grass blades poked through the dirty snow victoriously, until the snow had completely disappeared, and the blades were left to darken. Mud dried, the air warmed, and fresh green life burst out into sight.

A refreshing chill reigned over the field today. Flowers hung in small patches by a lone cedar tree with beads of dew still clinging to their petals and leaves. Fat bumblebees of mostly black fuzz found these flowers and a pale yellow butterfly did as well, although it soon left the flowers behind to journey across the field. It was momentarily distracted by the picnic blanket topped with people and food. It settled on a shoulder, where it received attention from the others.

"You got a little friend there, Ice!" Denmark chirped.

The butterfly was given a glance before it took off and continued on its way. Iceland did not reply, and he only sighed as he put down his sandwich and lay back over the blanket. He stared up at the marvelous blue sky where fluffy clouds drifted lazily along. The sounds around him where calming, and here he felt at peace. Norway looked over him silently while further away, Iceland could hear Ladonia and Sealand laughing in the field. He took a quick peek to the side and saw them trying energetically to steal away the soccer ball that Sweden kept from them with precise taps of his feet.

A shout reach his ears. It was a simple cry of, "No, Poland!"

Iceland rolled back his head while the rest on the blanket glanced over as well. Lithuania was moaning as Poland hung by the lowest branch of the cedar while flailing his legs.

"Don't worry, I can totally do this!" Poland exclaimed.

He managed to throw up his legs and wrap them around the branch. He hung upside down and swung side-to-side. Lithuania fidgeted in concern as Poland continuously tried to throw himself around with each attempt ending in failure.

"Please stop before you hurt yourself…" Lithuania was heard pleading.

Norway searched through one of the bags that had been taken with them, and he drew out a chessboard. Denmark gasped and his eyes glimmered in excitement before he wiggled over to set himself on his side on the blanket in front of Norway.

"Alright, bring it on!" Denmark cried.

He enthusiastically helped set both his and Norway's pieces into place. Norway took a moment to glance at Denmark's legs that were limply stretched out, then he looked back at Denmark's thrilled expression. Denmark was too distracted by what he was doing at first to notice the small smile Norway had given him. Once the pieces were ready however, he lifted his head and stared back into the two whole and completely healed eyes. Denmark smiled as well when he briefly noted once again how not a single scar marked where a knife had once sliced into him.

Denmark only commented upon the less obvious smile that Norway was presenting him with. He laughed, "Why you smiling, Nor?"

Norway replied, "It is a nice day today."

He looked back to the board and he slid a pawn forward. Denmark eagerly thunked his first piece down after. Beside them, Finland opened up a tupperware container and showed Estonia the blueberry buns within while exclaiming, "Here, try one!"

Estonia gladly took one for himself. As he bit into it, Finland looked back to see how Lithuania and Poland were faring. By this point Poland had gotten himself up and was now grabbing at branches and ascending higher. Lithuania had his brows knitted in seriousness as he stared upwards and followed him with his eyes. Finland saw Latvia there too, although he was not looking up and was only peering across the field into empty space.

Latvia stood in a way that made him appear flimsy, as though the weak breeze had the power to topple him over. In addition to this, he seemed more pale than what a season inside from the winter cold would have left him as. When Finland peered closer, he could see the darkness under Latvia's eyes; deep rings that were pronounced on that pallid skin. His hair also looked disheveled, and no longer downy but dry and straw-like.

Finland leaned to the side so that he was closer to Estonia. He asked in a whisper, "Latvia looks sick. Is he okay?"

Estonia looked over to the tree and regarded Latvia. He replied quietly, "He's looked like that since… But I've asked him so many times if he's alright, but he won't tell me anything."

"That's not good," Finland sighed. "So he hasn't talked to Canada yet?"

"No. I keep telling him to, but he says that he's fine. I don't think he's been sleeping or eating well though. He's really starting to worry me..."

Estonia looked back down to the container that was still open beside Finland. Estonia asked, "May I…?"

"Oh yeah, of course!"

Estonia took one of the blueberry buns then began to cross the field. He came up to the tree, and Lithuania quickly glanced at the newcomer before back upwards.

Estonia came up to Latvia and greeted him.

"Hey, Latvia?"

He slowly turned and gazed up at Estonia with lackluster eyes. Estonia tapped the bun in between his loose fingers.

"Here," Estonia said. "Try this. It's really good! Finland made it."

Latvia murmured, "It's okay."

He tried passing it back to him, but Estonia stepped away. Latvia frowned and lowered his arm. Estonia came back in and said, "You should really be eating something, Latvia. Everyone brought food for all of us but you're not even having what you brought over. You can't just not have anything."

"But I'm not hungry," he said. "Really, I don't want to."

"You might be hungry without knowing it. Please… at least try that and if you don't like it, then you don't have to eat it."

Latvia took the bun in two hands. Estonia noticed that his hands shook just a little, then he saw that it was not just his hands, but his whole body that was quivering. Latvia bit into the bun, and he chewed it slowly before digging into it with more energy. He became engrossed in the bun, so Estonia was able to hold his arm and lead him back to the blanket without protest.

Finland took out many snacks in preparation. When Latvia was seated, Finland held out a slice of melon. Latvia blinked at him, but ended up taking it after a few seconds. Estonia snuck around him with a glass of orange juice, and by now Latvia was far more accepting, and he quickly gulped all of it down.

Finland and Estonia got as much as they could into him, constantly imagining all the while that every bit they gave him was going to help his health. Latvia received mostly healthy food, and when he started to claim he was full, they still managed to sneak some final orange segments into him. Afterwards, Latvia was told to lie down, and this he did. Latvia curled into the shape of a cashew and closed his eyes.

 _Good_ , Estonia thought. _I hope he feels better soon._

Eventually Poland made it down on his own with leaves and broken twigs caught in his hair, and smears of moss and dirt on his hands. He wiped his hands over the wet grass before fretting over the mess his hair had gotten in. As he and Lithuania headed back to the blanket, Poland was wincing as he plucked each thing from his hair, for some blond strands were being ripped out as well.

Everyone gathered together after another few minutes. The large blanket was filled with the ten bodies who stuck close to each other, offered their food once again to all, and murmured tranquilly to each other. Denmark and Norway eventually concluded their game, and Denmark rolled off the blanket and into the grass in shame of his defeat. After a long moan, he rolled swiftly back to help pack the chessboard away.

Denmark checked the faces of all to make sure that no one seemed apprehensive to be in the presence of another. He found that everyone seemed to be settled comfortably. He then reached over for his glass of juice to sip it before he cleared his throat. He set the glass away where he would not be likely to knock it down later, while the eyes of those he had already caught the attention of watched him.

Denmark still lay on his side, and from this position, he announced, "Thanks, everyone, for coming today! I think it was really important that we get together and get everything settled, you know?"

After being the first to raise his voice here today, everyone stopped whatever they were doing to sit silently and adopt a courteous manner. Lithuania and Poland recognized they were the ones the words were directed at, and they stiffened slightly from discomfort. Denmark frowned upon seeing this, but he continued to speak.

"I don't want what happened at the mansion to affect us any longer than it has to," he sighed. "I really hope we can all agree that the things that happened there were not our fault, because we were all under the control of the culprit. I want you to know…"

Denmark sat up and used his hands to cross his legs. He could now appear to be more sincere as he faced Lithuania and Poland. He held out his arms and displayed his palms to them as a receiving gesture.

"I am really sorry for what I did! It was all like a dream at the time, and right now I cannot believe the things I did and said. The culprit's plan to mess with me- it worked. I am so sorry for being so weak and letting myself be a puppet for his plans. I don't even know how to get you to forgive me, but I really hope you can. It just wasn't me, and I will never achieve that level of crazy again. Please, I do not want to hurt you. I feel very bad for what I did."

Sweden nodded to this, then added, "I feel the same. I am sorry for everything, and I hope things get better."

Poland and Lithuania looked to each other, but then Lithuania looked back and forth between Sweden and Denmark. Lithuania tilted his head slightly to the side and his gaze softened. There was a nonthreatening smile on his lips as he replied, "No worries. We've all tried to kill each other in war before anyway."

"But this was not war," Denmark stressed. "Our countries are at peace. It wasn't right!"

"It was a stressful situation," Lithuania replied. "I understand."

Denmark still had his hands open and stretched out towards them. He pressed, "But I want you to know that it wasn't me doing those things. It was the culprit in control of us. It was wrong to let him get control of me, so that was bad... but please. I don't want you to think that I am insane or a bad guy. Can we be friends instead?"

"I think that would be possible-"

"Thank you!" Denmark cried. "You don't know how much that means to me! It's been so hard living with myself, knowing what I did! I kept thinking about it and having all kinds of nightmares! So you forgive me? Yes? Please?"

Lithuania and Poland were startled by his burst of emotion. Lithuania hastened to reply, "Yes, it's alright! I forgive you both."

"What about you?" Denmark then cried to Poland. "Can you forgive me for what I did to you?"

Poland blinked for a couple of seconds before he remembered to respond aloud.

"Oh, yeah sure. We're cool." He shrugged. "I felt a lot better after you got injured in the back too. It was totally karma or something!"

Denmark laughed lightly with tears in the corners of his eyes. He wiped them away with crooked fingers as he replied, "Yeah?"

"Yeah, it's cool." Poland's reaffirmation had a dose of nonchalance blended in it.

Denmark let his stiff pose break, and he bent forward with a sigh.

"I am going to make it up to you all over and over again... I promise!" he exclaimed. "We can hang out like this more often. We have to do so many things with each other so that we won't think of those horrible things, but some good memories instead!"

Denmark flashed his head to the side to Sweden.

"Right?" he gasped.

Sweden nodded.

Poland dug into the cooler beside him before withdrawing a package of dried sausages. He ripped it open and slid one out, letting the rest fall onto the blanket. After a pause, Poland extended it out towards Denmark. Lithuania gawked at Poland's uncharacteristic display of selflessness, and Denmark's eyebrows shot up. He did not take the snack at first, but instead he dropped forward to catch Poland into a squeezing embrace. Poland gasped and the meat hung out limply in his hand. His expression of surprise soon dropped, and he stared ahead blankly as his mind was overcome with puzzlement.

"I'm sorry," Denmark sniffed. "Okay?"

Denmark pulled away without Poland ever having had returned the embrace. Poland gazed at him, still nonplussed. Eventually Poland looked back to the sausage, and raised it again. Denmark took it with an energetic chirp of, "Thanks!" before ripping into it with his side teeth.

Iceland exhaled, "Can we try not to make the rest of today so emotional?"

Denmark protested around the sausage wagging out from the corner of his mouth,"Aw, but, Ice! I just had all those emotions inside that needed to be put out there!"

Iceland said, "But everything's fine now."

"Don't you have any emotions trapped in there? Thought we all did."

Iceland only replied, "Try not to cry all over the place again."

Norway exhaled, "I think someone's in denial."

"What do you mean? Of what?"

"Don't you have anything to say?" Norway's words floated out softly. "None of us came out of that place without something disturbing us. You can tell us anything, especially your brother."

"I didn't want us to talk about this today," Iceland sighed. "So let's not start talking about me now."

Sweden asked, "Why not? You never talk about it."

"Yeah," Finland joined in. "We've all talked over what's bothering us, except for you. Come on! It's why we're here today. It's better to deal with problems together, isn't it?"

"We should just enjoy the day. This is taking up too much time," Iceland replied.

"How do you expect to enjoy anything until you've released your pent-up emotions?" Denmark exclaimed. "Come on, you can't keep anything inside because that'll only hurt you more!"

"We can help you," Finland agreed.

Iceland hesitated with his mouth partially open and ready to protest, but then it slowly closed and he looked down. He curled up his legs and brought them to his chest to hold, and while he still regarded his feet, he replied in a voice that was now merely a murmur, "I don't really have any problems. Why would I? I did not get hurt so much, and I didn't have to deal with the dogs or the culprit."

"You were in the attic," Norway stated. "In the dark, surrounded by shadows. Does the memory scare you?"

Iceland said quietly, "No, the shadows weren't what scared me."

"What's getting at you then?" Estonia asked.

"Just seeing everyone getting hurt was by far the most scariest thing that happened in that mansion," Iceland admitted. "I mean, it's not so bad now that I see that you all are okay, but sometimes I think about how I would feel if one of you had been killed. I forget it quickly because there's no point of thinking about it when you're all here."

The others had gone quiet again as they listened to what had remained unsaid for so long until this point.

"I don't care that I got hurt," he breathed. "The things I can't get out of my mind are all of the memories of blood, and just seeing everyone so afraid. I've never seen us driven to such terror before, and never have we been so helpless. That's what I think about at night sometimes. Norway's screams behind a locked door, alone and in pain… then I see him on the rug of the bathroom with blood and fluid pouring from his eye. Then there's Finland dying right in front of us with his neck torn out, and I still remember the sound of his disturbingly soft breaths. The memory of Denmark with his spine crooked is still on my mind, and I see Lithuania and Poland… and I can only regret too what I said back then.

"I see Latvia getting beat up by Germany while we all just stood there terrified because… we didn't care or we were too scared to stand up for him. Then... Russia. I… I can't stop seeing him in my dreams, twisted over the rocks with his bones sticking out. So still, but he was also alive then, wasn't he?

"I don't care about ghosts or dogs. I can watch ghost movies and go to the pet store without any problems, but if one of you were to get a paper cut in front of me and I had to see a single drop of blood come out of you, I think I would feel sick. I don't know if I would scream or cry more if I saw one of us hurt again..."

"Oh no, Ice!" Denmark wailed. "Why didn't you tell us earlier?"

He dragged himself towards him. Iceland put out his arms and half-halfheartedly tried to hold him off as he muttered without much effort into maintaining a bitter attitude, "Come on, I told you not to cry again..."

"You care so much about us," Denmark murmured as he finally succeeded in containing Iceland with his arms. "But we're okay. Everything's okay now."

"I know that." Iceland ended up resting his face against Denmark's padded coat regardless. One side of him was protected from the slight chill, and he could not deny how much the coat likened a pillow when it allowed him to sink into Denmark's chest.

Denmark promptly teased, "So you do like hugs? Aha! You never let anyone do this to you before-"

"Shut up," Iceland muttered. He considered pulling away after Denmark's comment, but he could not summon up a true desire to leave. He slipped up his hands and pressed them against Denmark's chest, leaving them by his face. Denmark stopped poking fun at him to just hold him instead.

"Who'd like to talk next?" Sweden put out.

Estonia immediately answered, "Latvia should go."

He turned his head over his shoulder and saw Latvia curled with his eyes still closed. Latvia's chest rose and fell slowly, and his face held a soft expression. Estonia stretched out a hand to touch him, but then bit his lip and decided against it.

Estonia said, "We better let him sleep for now, I suppose."

"Do you have something to say?" Finland asked.

"No, it's fine," Estonia replied. "I talked with Canada a lot, and he helped me. My nightmares aren't coming as often anymore."

"Has everybody else already talked with him?" Lithuania asked.

"It was only Iceland who hadn't," Norway said.

"Latvia hasn't yet," Estonia sighed while taking a look over his quiet form.

"Why not?" Sweden asked.

"We don't know," Lithuania replied. "He insists that he is fine, but he does not look fine at all."

No one seemed to have anything else to lay out for the others, so the mood eased and they continued eating and playing whatever games they had taken along to the picnic. Norway let Sealand and Ladonia play chess against each other, while the others engaged themselves in different games of cards.

Latvia woke up only once everyone had gotten up in order to pack everything away. His eyes peeled open slowly, but hung half-opened as though strands of glue connected his eyelashes to each other and he could not win against the tension. Estonia helped him move away as Norway went to fold up the blanket.

Latvia murmured, "What time is it now?"

"Three," Estonia replied. "We're going out into town now. Do you think you're up to it?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine."

The Nordics were checking through their things to make sure that everything was accounted for. Lithuania had just finished packing, and he had now arrived at Estonia's side with a bag and cooler in each hand. Lithuania had overheard their conversation, and now he asked, "We really need to talk, Latvia."

"About what?"

"Please don't be playing dumb," Lithuania sighed. "You know what I mean."

Latvia frowned.

"I'm tired of having to tell everyone over and over again," he muttered. "I said I'm fine. Don't believe me? That's not new. Everyone thinks I'm a liar again anyway, but it's beyond annoying now. So please just stop… _bothering_ me."

Estonia thought, _This sounds nothing like Latvia, so what's up with him?_

Lithuania was simultaneously thinking, _He is acting so defensive. Something is definitely wrong with him._

"Latvia," Lithuania soothed. "Please, stop holding whatever it is that you are holding in you. Why aren't you talking? Are you scared?"

"Scared?" Latvia uttered. "Don't mock me."

"Hey, um…" Finland had appeared behind Latvia. "Is there a problem? We were going to leave now but…"

Sweden and Poland joined in the crowd around Latvia.

Latvia exhaled, "No."

Instantly after saying this, he turned away from Estonia, Poland, and Lithuania, passed Finland and Sweden, then headed pointedly after where Norway, Denmark, and Iceland were already crossing the field. Those that were left behind stared after the tiny figure that padded alone with a bowed head.

 _What could be going through his head right now?_ Lithuania thought. _I'm getting really worried about him._

Denmark restricted the speed of the front group, for each step he took forward required immense concentration and effort. He was able to walk unaided at this time, but Iceland and Norway kept flashing glances at him in expectation that he would tire and collapse without warning. Latvia had soon caught up to them, slowing his pace to trail behind them. He kept his eyes down to mindlessly stare at how pants continuously slipped up and down socks. The three Nordics here did not take notice of him, and they only looked ahead at the road adorned with parked cars while they chatted.

"Just yesterday I was able to walk a whole kilometre this time!" Denmark crowed. "I mean, sure it took forever, but I did it!"

"Is that so?" Norway looked over him once again.

"Yeah, it hasn't even been a year and I've almost completely recovered from an injury that regular people never would recover from!"

Norway said, "It would have been very unfortunate if you had been paralyzed in the legs."

Denmark clapped once and beamed. He chirped, "Thanks, buddy!"

"What?" Iceland said. "I don't understand…"

"He cares," Denmark sighed. "Like you."

"Shh."

"Ice: the hero who took down big and scary ghosts for us!"

Iceland's face felt warm, and it was confirmed to him that he was indeed blushing, for Denmark had started to chuckle and Norway was looking over him fondly.

"Will you ever stop teasing me about that?" Iceland gasped.

He reached over and flicked Denmark on the shoulder. Denmark's skin felt as though he had been struck by a sharp pebble, and he exclaimed in pseudo alarm, "Ah! I'm already injured- I can't take anymore!"

There was a second when fear gleamed in Iceland's eyes, but then it faded as he recognized the jest. He regretted hurting him nonetheless. Iceland replied, "Nobody deserves to be hurt anymore. I'm sorry."

Denmark patted his shoulder.

"Don't be so down!" he cried. "We have the rest of the day ahead of us! Let's forget this now and have some fun!"

Iceland agreed in the end, and considered this to be the goal of the day. The Baltic trailing them could not adopt such an attitude so easily, so he maintained his silence the best that he could for the rest of that day. No matter what was said to him, he revealed nothing and snapped at all who tried to approach him.

* * *

The air was possessed by a humid heat that weighed down on those in the vineyard. August had arrived, and it boldly announced this with an intense sun that was firmly stuck in the center of a cloudless sky. Soon it would be September, but the final week of this month was determined to deliver high temperatures until everything plunged into the crisp chill of autumn.

Prussia wiped his bare arm over his forehead then dropped it to let the stream of sweat dry. He huffed and looked to his side at Germany, who has diligently harvesting bunches of table grapes and dropping them into a plastic tub. Prussia grinned and remarked, "You're working hard. Are you getting paid less than me?"

Germany paused and sent a glare his way that was only partially successful in hiding his slight amusement. Despite the sweat drenching Prussia's skin and clothes, he stood before him as perky and energetic as usual, although the pressing heat seemed to have the intention of crushing all into submission. Prussia took a moment to snag three plump grapes from a hanging cluster and pop them into his mouth. When they were crushed, the resulting burst of juice served as a welcome cure for his thirst. Germany copied him, ignorant that Italy was already on the way with three glasses of iced water squeezed to his chest.

They had continued working until they heard Italy's approaching footsteps. They looked over as Italy struggled to relieve himself from the glasses by setting them on the ground. Germany was swiftly there to steady a glass that had threatened to tip, and this was the one he ended up taking. Prussia came over for his own, and both thanked Italy in turn.

Italy stood up with his glass in hand and with the numbness of his arms quickly disappearing. As the other two drank, Italy exclaimed, "The nice farmer said that we could have dinner with her family tonight!"

"Really? Awesome!" Prussia replied.

Italy explained, "She said she wanted to repay us for the free labor."

"The promise of free samples was enough to make me to it," Prussia laughed. "Although I've only snuck in twenty so far…"

After finishing their drinks, they gathered up a tub each and took everything back to the old, placid farmhouse awaiting just on top of a gradual slope from them. They set these tubs next to the others that they had amassed in the shade during the last two hours.

"It's fun though." Prussia beamed at Italy. "It's great spending the afternoon outside with you guys!"

Germany said, "Yes. It was a great idea you had, Italy."

Italy could only wave side-to-side in appreciative joy after the compliments.

More sunscreen was slabbed on before they went back to work in the vineyard. The routine of snapping the clusters from the vines went on for a while longer with single grapes being nabbed occasionally. The tubs kept being filled until the farmer finally came out and told them that they had worked quite enough. By then they were exhausted from being under the sun for so long, and so they happily ceased their duties and followed her back inside.

They removed their shoes and each greeted her husband when they passed by him on the way into the living room. The farmer invited them to relax until the dinner preparations were complete, and so they were left alone seated in front of the television. It had already been on when they took their spots on the couch; an Italian news channel, they quickly discovered.

Germany had found the remote and had lifted it to change the channel, however the next report had him frozen. Italy gasped at that moment, while Prussia sighed, "This again?"

Behind the news broadcasters was image of the police sketch of the infamous culprit. Germany, Prussia, and Italy stared at the picture without a word while it was being described. The picture then disappeared, and a video clip was shown from one of the interviews done last year. Prussia appeared on screen with a microphone outstretched towards his face, staring at a point behind the camera in the distance. He began to speak German, but his voice was soon drowned out in an Italian dub.

" _We seriously never saw the guy. He always came to us wearing a mask and using the voice changer. He would never stay for long. He would give us drugged food, and led us one-by-one to the downstairs bathroom before chaining us up again. Half the time we were out of it, but when we were awake, all we could do was guess what was going on upstairs and try to calm Estonia, whose injury had gotten infected because all of us had been left untreated…_ "

Prussia was replaced by a video of the mansion, with the yard now occupied by police officers with vested police dogs held by leashes. There was a shot of a dog sniffing at grave with soft, dark eyes forward and ears erected while the reporter continued, " _The police have searched the property, but no trace of this mysterious culprit has been found_."

A clip of the hill topped with apple trees was shown, although the slope that had once had the five skeletons was now bare with only dirt spots remaining to show where they had lain.

" _Multiple bodies have been found, reportedly all mauled to death by a trained dog pack. These dogs are known to have belonged to the culprit…_ "

The stone-ringed hole of a tunnel appeared.

" _Many tunnels have also been located on the property, with other skeletons at their ends. All of these findings were dated as being over two-hundred years old, and most are determined to be children victims of cult sacrifices…_ "

Prussia muttered, "Turn this off, Germany. We've already seen all this a thousand times."

Germany still observed the screen in utter concentration.

" _All thirty-seven victims have recovered from this experience, except for one who was said to have disappeared halfway through the duration of their captivity. No further information about the disappearance of the Russian Federation has been provided to date._ "

By then an image of Russia had been shown with the Italian caption _Missing_ posted underneath.

The reporter continued, " _If located, please call…_ "

Prussia interrupted the other two's focus with a mutter.

"I said turn it off already. It's nothing new. We've still gotten nowhere."

After the recounting of their current situation again however, Italy was left nervous. He asked in a voice that had a slightly noticeable quiver in it, "Do you think he is alright?"

Germany knew who he was talking about.

"I don't know," he replied.

Prussia said, "I wonder if the culprit really does have him, or if Russia's just pissed. He might have run off and hidden himself."

"I can imagine that," Germany sighed. "He must feel betrayed and threatened. America drove it into him that he has no friends and that everyone hates him. The last confrontation did not help either. We said overly harsh things about him deserving to die. He might be afraid that if he is found, we will attack him again unjustly."

"But that's not right!" Italy cried. "We have to find him… We really need to apologize to him, and make him feel better!"

"I know," Germany murmured. "We'll find him eventually. Someone will recognize him and call the police, and then we'll talk to him. As for the culprit, we will identify him soon and track him down as well."

"How can we make Russia feel better?" Italy whined. "We did so much to him. How do we fix it?"

Germany replied, "I don't entirely know. We will just have to tell him how much we regret what we did and said, and hope that he believes us. We can give him gifts and spend time with him, and perhaps time will be able to heal whatever internal wounds we may have inflicted upon him."

* * *

"I can't take all this shit," America groaned as he dug his nails into his scalp. "They just… don't shut up!"

Canada sat beside America on the couch. His wheelchair stood out of the way and to the side.

"Who do you mean?" Canada asked.

"You know," America exhaled. "Those reporters, and the other countries. They won't stop asking the same questions over and over! My phone's going off from all those damn tweets all the time! I'm trying so hard to forget, but everyday I am reminded of that mansion."

"I understand, but they'll stop eventually."

"I hate it so much! All the time it's the press and the most random countries from Ecuador to Mongolia. They're all saying, 'Hey, heard about what happened. Is everyone alright? Can't believe that all this happened in a week. We never had the time to notice that all of you were gone.' Then every single one of them asks me, 'So, what happened to Russia? Where is he?'"

America moaned. Canada soothed, "They weren't there. They can't understand what we went through, and they're just concerned like the rest of us."

"I don't know about everyone else," America muttered. "But I can't tell them what we did. Can you imagine? They're like, 'So, Russia's disappeared off the face of the planet for a year. Don't you have any idea where he went? Is he okay?' Then I reply, 'Hard to say. The last thing I remember was treating him like shit, accusing him, tying up him, chasing him around the mansion with a gun, telling him he deserves to die, then scaring him into jumping off a roof so that he lands on some rocks and get taken away by flesh-eating dogs. So… yeah, he should be fine."

"It was more complicated than that," Canada insisted softly. "Simplifying it makes it look worse, but the actions taken were still those devised by the culprit. You would not do those things on your own."

"You sure?" America laughed dryly. "I had never liked the guy. We pretended to be friends, but I had always hated his guts. It was too easy to get me to snap on him. That's _my_ fault."

"America, you are suffering from the same plight that troubles the others. You ask yourself if it is you who is the monster, or the culprit. I say it was the culprit. I _know_ it was him. We're looking for Russia because we know what we did was wrong, and we regret it. You would be a monster if we found him and you were just as mean as before, but you know that's not what you're going to do."

America murmured now, "Of course not. I'm going to be super nice to him, and apologize so much. I'll do whatever I can to make it up to him."

"That's good."

America frowned and dipped his head.

"That's if he's still alive though."

Canada said, "He must be alive. Either he's with the culprit or he escaped and is now in hiding."

"I don't know, man," America sighed. "Even if that skull turned out not to be his, who knows if Russia was still killed in the end? The culprit might not have wanted Russia to have the honor of a burial. He might have dumped his chopped-up corpse in the dump for all we know. We could be searching for him for a long time, thinking that he's still alive, and then no one would mourn him. Well, maybe a new Russia will appear eventually, and that'll be it, and we'll get our answer."

Canada argued, "That hasn't happened, and we haven't heard from the culprit. There's a theory floating around that I believe. He must feel betrayed, and so he's hidden himself from us."

"That doesn't seem like something he would do," America said. "I don't believe that. I think that the culprit did away with him, because he did announce that the game was over. We saw Russia's scarf, and even if the DNA test said that the skull was not his, it confirmed that the blood was. Same with the word written on the bathroom mirror; it was written in Russia's blood. If the culprit still had him, then we would have heard something by now."

"I don't think so. The culprit might have him but does not want us to know that. When we identify and track down the culprit, we'll find Russia... _alive_."

"Dude, he's gotta be dead. I mean, it's been so long since we left the mansion, but I keep having nightmares about him. It's almost the same dream every time too. He's always just standing there, covered in blood with his bones poking out, and he's crying and crying, and asking constantly why he had to die. He tells me, 'I didn't want to die, America. Why did you have to be so mean? It hurt so much.' Canada… These dreams are terrifying as hell. We were in that mansion, and we know now that ghosts are real." He clutched at his head, his eyes staring blankly off, seeing only the images he described.

"You think that Russia's haunting you?" Canada asked.

"I do. It's hard to sleep because I know it's likely that I'll see him."

"I don't think he's haunting you. You must only feel guilt, and that's why you keep thinking of him."

"Hasn't anyone else been having these dreams?"

Canada hesitated, before he admitted, "Yes… Similar ones."

"So he's dead, and haunting us."

"I don't think so."

"Do you have any proof against this?"

Canada replied, "No."

The phone in Canada's pocket vibrated. He inhaled sharply before dragging it out. He apologized quickly before he unlocked it.

America asked, "Let me guess, one of the others asking more questions?"

Canada shook his head before he answered the call. America listened as Canada answered, "Hello? Estonia? How are-"

Canada's face was drained of blood. His mouth hung partially open as he stared forward into nothingness. America could hear Estonia's voice frantic on the other end, but the volume was not high enough that he could hear what was being said.

America whispered, "What is it?"

Canada did not answer, and he only continued to listen with a horrified expression. After a while in which America had been sitting and fidgeting out of impatient anxiety, Canada murmured, "I can probably get myself over there this weekend."

America watched Canada's face as he listened once more then responded, "Then we can try a video call soon."

When Canada met America's eyes, America mouthed, " _What happened?_ "

Canada held up a finger signifying that he would have to wait. America frowned and tapped his feet.

"Okay. We'll hear from you soon. Thank you for calling me...Yes. Goodbye."

Canada hung up. America demanded, "Well?"

"Estonia went to visit Latvia earlier and found him vomiting on the floor, confused, and hardly breathing. He took him to the hospital and he was treated for alcohol poisoning."

"What?" America cried. "Whoa, how did that happen?"

"Estonia said that Latvia has been looking sick and acting strange since we left that mansion," Canada replied. "He said that Latvia's been keeping his problems to himself and refusing to talk to anyone about them. I'm going to talk to him in a few minutes once Estonia gets his computer on."

"Ah, okay."

In an instant, Canada appeared embarrassed. His voice was even more soft as he asked, "Could you fetch me my laptop? It's just on the table."

"Sure thing."

America passed the large fluffy ball that was Kumajirou's sleeping form. He gathered Canada's closed laptop and returned back to the couch with it. He delivered it into Canada's waiting hands, and it was immediately opened and set upon his lap. Canada tapped in his password and started up Skype.

"I just hope the call is clear this time," Canada sighed. "I don't just want to talk to him. We need to see each other."

They waited until the pop-up appeared that announced he was receiving a call from Estonia. He accepted it, and after a few seconds, they were connected.

Estonia's face developed on screen. He gasped, "Hey, Canada, can you hear me?"

Canada replied, "Yes. You can hear me too, right?"

"Yeah, it seems to be holding up for now."

The view pixelated as Estonia moved, but then it cleared up after it had been set on a table. Latvia was revealed sitting on a couch as well, although he had a pillow squeezed between his arms and legs. Estonia slid in to sit beside him.

"Okay, so Latvia, please tell me what happened," Canada began.

In an instant tears poured over Latvia's pale and sunken cheeks. He trembled and held the pillow tighter. From his mouth, a stream of plaintive mewls were emitted.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to. It was an accident! I'm so sorry…"

"It's okay, Latvia," Canada murmured, his tone aimed to console the quivering nation. "Don't worry. No one is mad at you. We're just worried is all."

"I didn't mean to go this far this time," Latvia choked. "I didn't try to hurt myself. I-I promise! Please believe me…"

Estonia said, "We believe you. It's okay, Latvia. We only want to help you."

America watched the other two on the screen while Canada asked, "Why did you drink so much, Latvia?"

"I did not mean to."

Estonia commented, "He admitted to drinking 40% vodka from the bottle. And do you know how much he drank?"

"No, Estonia, please…" Latvia sniffed.

Estonia snapped at him, "Why did you do it, Latvia?"

Latvia whispered, "Well, you know how I drank sometimes, before the mansion. Then I just started to drink a little more often, because it felt like it was helping a little, but it became a habit."

"You used alcohol to deal with your pain," Canada concluded.

Latvia sniffed again and nodded once.

Canada inquired, "So what is hurting you?"

Latvia let his face collapse into the pillow. He quaked under the hand Estonia had put onto his back. Canada was required to ask again although no lag had swallowed up his first attempt in asking.

"You'll say it's stupid," Latvia whined. "That I shouldn't feel the way that I do."

"Is that the reason why you never told anyone?" Canada asked. "Because you think that we would say that the reason for your suffering is stupid?"

"Yeah…"

Canada stressed, "Latvia, you can trust us. I promise that I will help you."

Latvia gasped and coughed into the pillow as a fit of sobs overcame him. Estonia's words of comfort and his shushes were distorted from the lag. The next cleared image showed Estonia closer to Latvia, with Latvia balled around the pillow and titling so that he leaned into Estonia's side.

Canada said, "Tell us, please."

Latvia struggled to squeeze the word from his body. His windy breath stuttered, " _R-Russ… Russia_."

Latvia shattered after saying that one word, and his pieces fell completely into Estonia's hold.

Canada exclaimed, "Latvia, what happened to Russia was not your fault!"

"I know it's not my fault, but it was still me who did it!" Latvia gasped. "If you give someone a gun and tell them to shoot someone or else their friend dies, you still killed someone no matter what the reason was!"

"Hold on now," Canada said. "We still don't know if Russia is dead. Didn't you hear? The skull wasn't his. It came from the tomb."

"I heard," Latvia murmured. "But he is still dead. That's why we haven't heard from him. Russia would not hide."

"If that was the case, which I highly doubt, then the culprit did it. Not you."

"The culprit got Russia because of what _I_ said!"

"Russia ended up in his hands because of the actions of many," Canada replied. "It is not right to blame the entire thing upon yourself."

"I do, because I shouldn't have been so stupid!" Latvia protested. "I got myself captured and threatened. I know that the culprit made me say what I said, but the things before…"

"You fell into a hole by accident and got possessed," Canada said. "It is not your fault you ended up where you did."

"It is!" Latvia gasped. "The ghost left me, and Russia found me. I automatically assumed his intentions, and I ran instead of talking to him. I was so, so stupid! We could have gone back downstairs together, but I got myself captured instead."

"If it wasn't you, someone else would have been threatened," Canada told him. "No matter what, the culprit would have stopped at nothing to have us turn against him."

"They would have felt the same way as me then," Latvia breathed.

"No, Latvia, you should not hurt yourself for something that is not your fault. You have to blame the culprit. None of this would have happened if it wasn't for him. Please. Do you think that being sad and poisoning yourself will make anything better?"

Latvia was silent. Canada added, "Do you think that Russia would want us to suffer like this?"

"I don't know." Latvia was shaking his head. "We were so unfair and mean to him. I don't know if I could forgive everyone, if I was him."

Estonia said, "Russia would not approve of what you are doing. If you don't believe that, you should ask Ukraine. She would tell you that Russia would feel sad to see you treating yourself like this."

"Neglecting your health will not help Russia," Canada sighed. "I want you to stop drinking, and to make sure you are eating healthy. You look like you've lost weight. Also, sleep. Please, you don't look good."

"I don't want to sleep," Latvia whimpered. "I dream about the mansion if I do. I see the _Scream_ mask and I hear the voice all over again, telling me what to do. I remember ferocious faces and getting hurt, running from the dogs, and the cold night in the tomb. Then worst of all, I hear Russia's scream as he falls by the window, and when it ends so suddenly. I see him on the rocks as a mess of bones and blood. Every night. Even if I try to sleep, I always wake up sweating and crying. I don't think the nightmares will stop until we find him, so I can't sleep, Canada."

"You should consider medication," Canada advised. "Just a bit for the stress, or something to help you sleep more deeply. Ukraine is already doing this, and she says that it is helping her. How about this, Latvia? Can you please try this instead of alcohol?"

"Y-Yeah…"

"Can you promise me?"

"Okay, Canada…"

"Thank you," Canada said. "Now please try to stop feeling so guilty about him. It hurts other people to see you in this way."

"I'm sorry…"

"We'll get him back," Canada affirmed. "He will be okay."

"I'm scared for him… If he's-"

The rest of the sentence was cut off by lag, but Canada responded regardless, "We're all worried for him, but let's get through this."

"But Canada…"

"Do you want me to visit you?" Canada asked. "I know it's hard to talk about something serious over Skype."

Latvia cried, "No… No, I don't want to inconvenience anybody. I'm sorry…"

"Don't apologize, Latvia. You're inconveniencing nobody because it is not a waste of time helping you."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course. Okay, I'll come over hopefully this weekend. Is that okay? We can spend some time together. It's your turn to completely release yourself from your pain."

"Thank you…" Latvia whispered. He tucked himself in more comfortably in against Estonia.

"Let's message each other often before then," Canada said.

"Okay…"

"Can you keep an eye on him, Estonia?"

Estonia replied, "Yes."

"Do you feel better, Latvia?" Canada asked.

"I think so," he murmured.

Tears were still leaking out, but Estonia reassured him with a rub on his back. Canada saw this and said, "We need to be close to each other in this time of recovery. Human contact has been helping most who I have spoken to, so be there for each other."

Estonia nodded at Canada.

Canada said, "Goodbye, you two. I'll be over soon, Latvia."

America threw in his own farewell, and Estonia said his while Latvia whispered, "Bye". The call was closed, and Canada sighed as he leaned back against the couch with the laptop still open on his lap.

"You're a good counselor," America said. "You've helped a lot of us."

"I'm trying to stay positive," Canada replied. "I don't believe that negativity will help. We have to have hope, and we have to help each other. What happened was serious, and it will take time before we can truly say we are happy again."

"I can be happy again if we get Russia back alive and the culprit is given justice," America replied.

"Likewise, but that cannot be the limiting factor. If Russia is dead, and again I say that I do not believe this to be likely, then we still need to find our happiness again."

"That would be hard," America murmured.

"Yes, but not impossible. So, I will keep doing my best. I will get everyone to talk eventually."

"It's hard though. Not everyone is willing to talk because they think their problems are insignificant."

"As it was with Latvia," Canada murmured. "But they need to voice their problems no matter what."

"Why not do it anonymously?" America offered. "They might be more willing to talk then."

Canada perked up. He exclaimed, "Do you mean like if we set up a meeting for all of us who were in the mansion? If we discuss everything together by reading anonymous emails?"

"Oh, yeah. That sounds like a good idea."

"Let's hold in somewhere in Europe then, near everyone else. Will you help me advertise it?"

America agreed, "Yeah, definitely."

"Perfect. Thank you."

"What exactly should I post?"

Canada replied, "Say: _Attention all who attended last year's Halloween party. We are going to have a get together and discuss all thoughts and misgivings that we may have. It will be a great opportunity to recover and solve problems together. We will talk about everything anonymously, so feel free to create fake email accounts and email Canada whatever inner feelings, questions, or concerns that you may want to get out. Dates and locations will soon be posted, so keep an eye out for them. If you would like to host this meeting, please say so as soon as possible_."

America had been frantically typing on his phone the entire time, but he now paused and gave Canada a half-embarrassed grin after he had finished talking. America then admitted with a little laugh, "That was a little too much, too fast, dude. Do you mind repeating all that again?"


	18. Quenching Cold Flames

**All Quotes belong to William Shakespeare's Hamlet.**

 _Thou know'st 'tis common; all that lives must die,_

 _Passing through nature to eternity._

* * *

Two days after America had posted his tweet, Canada received a message from Germany.

 _I agreed to Prussia's request to hold your meeting in Berlin. We will do it on the first of December._

It turned out that Prussia had also joined in with the advertising of the idea, and he had posted on his blog: _Reminder for us 36 to send our emails to Canada and come over to Germany on the 1st!_

A flood of emails with the most random of usernames had come to him. Canada marked them, but he did not open them yet. He decided to save them to read at the meeting. He knew that if he read them beforehand, he would prepare responses. He did not want to do this, for then he would end up driving the conversation when it was supposed to be a group discussion.

 _Besides, I have my own to read._

At that moment he was reading through it. It was not that typos would matter, for he would merely be reading from his computer and no one else would have to see this. Canada was only caught up in what he had written, for he had never described the emotions that tangled themselves up in a tight knot within him. He had spent nearly a year consoling the others, and yet, he had not revealed the plague of sorrow overtaking him to anyone else before.

 _We all are suffering, but soon we will admit it. We will end this now._

Naturally, many nations who had not been contained in the mansion were curious about the meeting, and had requested permission to join in. Canada denied them all, and he received protesting responses that he always replied with, _Sorry. It will be an emotional time, and it is best if only those who can sympathize with what happened provide advice and comfort._

Even if they became offended, Canada could only apologize again and sigh to himself as he sat alone with his laptop. So many claimed to have ideas as to how to deal with the stress, but Canada did not accept them, for many had already been skeptical about the supernatural claims of the thirty-six survivors. There had been some exclamations of, "You were all just seeing things because you were just scared" and "They might have just been projections or audio provided by the culprit to mess with you".

 _Projections burned and broke us. Sure thing_ , his mind huffed back sarcastically.

He logged out and decided that he should probably get as much work done as possible for his boss before he departed to the upcoming meeting. It was a task for him to focus, for his thoughts would only wander back to what he had written to be read in front of the others.

 _I know it is dramatic… Will it only upset the others more if they hear mine? They won't know it's mine, so that should help… If they knew, they would feel guilty. They still might figure it out though, or they'll feel bad anyways._

Canada sighed again; it was a habit that he realized he had acquired that hardly aided with anything. The purpose was to force some of his stress out of him, but the attempt was never so successful.

 _They would be surprised, but then again, hearing about everyone else's struggles after escaping that eight-day Hell has been nothing but surprises. There have been so many reports of PTSD. Nightmares about ghosts, dogs, blood, and Russia… then there are behavioral switches that make them so unlike how they were before. Liechtenstein said that Switzerland keeps the light on in his room at night even though it wastes money. Germany told me he decked his house out with protective items, although he was a firm skeptic and scientific type before. Ukraine's depression and Belarus's crying are so unusual. Britain hates himself and has been overly concerned about my health. Then Latvia drank to remedy his depression… Everything is not right!_

Canada touched his face and found wetness there. He dried it away, then found his cup of water that had been stationed to the side to take a sip from it.

 _It's not who we are. We're so different, and I need to fix this… The culprit can't keep winning. We must become who we were before the mansion happened!_

Canada's arm flashed over his eyes to catch the fresh tears, as though if they were removed from his skin fast enough, they had never existed. It was how he always wiped them away. He tried to pluck himself from his sadness to drift away from the urge to lay back and cry. He did not want to enter that state of loss again, where he would be overwhelmed for an hour or more. He scrambled away from the border that would cross into this state of instability, throwing random thoughts into his mind in order to distract himself. He saw images of multicoloured landscapes; forests of maple and pine trees, yellow farmlands, and cities. He imagined book covers, thought of television quotes, and even tried to reconsider the appeal of Kumajirou's whiskers.

It worked in the end, for the ache in Canada's throat subsided. He blinked away the blur in his vision until he could see the time in the bottom corner of his computer.

There was still one week left before the thirty-six would meet. The task of maintaining his positive composure continued.

* * *

The atmosphere in the room was abnormally tense from a silence more frigid than the day outside. Canada was not the first to arrive, and by the time he had entered the building and had found the designated room, many were already sitting at the table. None were dressed in formal attire, as they would have been at a World Conference. They sat in winter wear; pants and sweaters for the most part, with coats draped over the back of chairs. Hands were clasped on the table and in some cases, gloves were placed neatly on top of each other to the side where they were out of the way.

The way they held themselves up however, did not indicate any professional readiness. They were hunched over and stiff as though attempting to make themselves smaller targets. They looked only forward as though afraid to make eye contact, and they held their mouths firmly shut with their teeth clenched behind lips so that the likelihood that they would speak would be minimized.

Canada wheeled up to the table to a spot that Germany had already prepared for him. America had followed along at his side, and now he put the bag he had been carrying for Canada onto the table. Canada had already been frowning because of his dissatisfaction of arriving into a room overtaken by this mood, but as he unzipped his bag in an outright breach of the silence, his exhale was recognizably forced.

His laptop was slipped out and opened. For the moment, he did not desire to chide the others for making the situation more stressful than it needed to be. His screen blocked out his view of their downward-facing heads as he focused on his email account. More people entered the room and they passed by as multi-coloured blurs in his peripheral vision. Chairs gently scraped the carpet as the places were continuously filled. The flow slowed after a while, and then the last few came in half an hour late.

When America closed the door, Canada knew that everyone was here. He had been ready for quite a while, and had been only staring intently at his own words once again. He closed it before America walked by him, and Canada went on to hover the arrow over the oldest email sent to him, placed at the bottom of the inbox. He then shifted the laptop a bit so that his face was visible to the others in the room.

As America made himself as comfortable as he could in the current situation, Canada swallowed beside him before interrupting the quietude with, "Good afternoon, everyone."

They blinked back at him before one-by-one they murmured some form of greeting in return.

Germany said, "Refreshments are near the wall, if anyone wants something later on… or now."

Canada noted the ungainliness in the way Germany had spoken. No one commented again after something had been said. They looked back to Canada expectantly, and Canada realized for a brief moment that this was the most attention anyone had ever given him before at a meeting. He brushed away the thought after realizing the greater importance of continuing on to the purpose of everyone's arrival.

"I do not know how much time this will take," Canada admitted. "I will start at the first email, and we will take the time to discuss each one. Let's do this orderly. Simply raise your hand if you want to contribute something, and I will call on you. Let's not have any fear. Speak freely here; you're all safe with each other and you will get all the support you need."

Nods returned to him. Canada let out a long exhale that he restricted to be a softer, unobtrusive sound.

"Alright," Canada said. _"PencilsAndPens1313_ says, _I don't know how to break the tension whenever I meet up with those who weren't at the mansion. I feel so awkward because I know they want to talk about what happened, and sometimes they do, but it ends up like an elephant in the room. I want everything to be normal again, because when they do this I just snap and I have to apologize after every time. I never even mean my apology. I just end up disliking the others more and more_."

Canada looked up and saw everyone readjusting themselves in their seats. With all the disturbances, he could not tell who had written this email. Everyone seemed to be able to relate, and hands were soon up.

France was chosen to speak first.

"I think we will have to wait it out," he said. "They will not stop until they have heard all the details a few times."

Then Britain added, "We can't hate them. They were denied access into the mansion by, and I'll quote Hong Kong here, 'A man in a plague doctor costume who acted as Romania and said that the party was cancelled'. So, they feel very close to the events, realizing their luck that they came later, and they try to imagine what they would have done if they had been with us."

"It seems to be fascinating to them," Switzerland muttered. "A kind of action adventure that they missed out on. They know about our injuries, but they don't really understand what all that means."

Finland commented, "But the reporters are the worst! How many interviews do they need?"

America eagerly added, "Yeah! I hate how they make us reconsider those memories while they shove microphones and cameras in our faces. Then they just show everything to the world who hardly gives a real damn- they just pretend that they do. No one can really imagine what we went through! I totally confirm what Switzerland said."

"We agree then, that the pressing questions are uncomfortable," Canada summarized. "But there is nothing to do about the public but to be strong until the next big news snags their interest. People will move on, and we will be left alone so that we can recover in peace. As for the other nations, I suggest that we tell them that they are being inconsiderate. They may be offended, but if they can't realize it themselves, it has to be done. Just be polite about it when you say it."

A few more comments were made on this subject before the next email was read.

"From _SundialLupine5324_ , _When the power goes out, I run out of the house_."

Canada immediately understood. He recalled the summer storms at his place that usually knocked out his power temporarily. He did not leave the house and leap out into the storm, but would instead keep Kumajirou, a flashlight, and a knife close.

They sympathized, and offered comforting words that the writer of this email may or may not have taken. The next email was then read.

" _WindyPineBranches_ says, _How much do I tell the press without people thinking I'm crazy? I haven't said much, but now they want me to confirm what some of the others have said about ghosts_."

America replied, "The truth's the truth. If we all say the same thing, they can't think we're hallucinating, right?"

China shook his head and said, "They think we were tricked. That we were scared and we are exaggerating things."

"I say don't tell them," Romano huffed. "Telling the public won't help. They'll get all crazy, and they'll call us crazy. Our own people might lose respect in us, and that'll make us feel even more crappy."

"The subject won't be dropped anytime soon either if we add more horror to the story," Portugal said. "Let's just let the world forget it so we can."

A small debate about this arose, until it was settled to the original response: they would not elaborate on the ghost story that had been already supplied to the media. They would instead focus on the evildoing of the culprit in order to direct society's focus there.

Canada then read through multiple emails describing the stress and fear of the others that even he had not heard of. His heart grew heavier after each one, for he was saddened that these serious problems had not been addressed to him before. They seemed to grow rapidly more serious, and as always Canada still could not tell who the original senders of the emails had been, for everyone was so affected. Heads dropped around the room and tired-looking eyes stared at half-empty paper cups of water in front of them. Here and there, tears settled in the corners of eyes as well.

Canada went on, then the tears spilled, although all remained silent when they did not choose to talk. Canada deleted every email after reading them, and the list grew shorter over the two hours that had followed since the start. He eventually came to the familiar name, and he swallowed. He tried remembering how his face had appeared when he had read the past emails, so that no one would be able to tell that this one had been written by him.

" _ChasingStarDreams_ wrote, _I feel like leaving the mansion never helped us. We are still suffering and some of us try so hard to recover but are failing, while some of us aren't trying at all. I smile and hope that it can give others happiness, but I cry sometimes because I know that so many of us are still in pain_."

He looked up. No one seemed to be paying attention to him, for they were still looking down and soaking in the emotion that had saturated those words. The wood of the table was splattered by falling tears. Canada watched it all happen and his throat ached because of it. One of his hands found his face to hold it and feel the rising heat of his skin.

"I'm sorry… to whoever wrote this," Seychelles sniffed. "I don't want my pain to hurt you too."

"I'll try harder," Latvia breathed. "I'm so sorry… I didn't realize how much my actions were affecting others…"

Tears broke down Canada's face, but it did not serve as indication still that it was him whom the words had reached. He wanted to express so much more, but he dug his nails into his palms and focused on his breathing to keep his cover. More apologies followed however, and he started to bend forward like the rest. His arms squeezed his middle, as though his heartache could be forced out that way.

He sniffed and cast his eyes to the screen. The next email was clicked on.

Canada whispered when he read this time, " _I don't know if I should keep or burn them_."

Everyone had become confused, until there was the sound of a bag unzipping. Heads turned, and Kugelmugel was seen setting a thick folder upon the table.

"The pictures," Kugelmugel murmured, "I drew them to honor what happened... but everyone keeps saying how hard they want to forget. I don't know now if I should keep them."

No one replied for the longest time. Austria reached for the folder, and he dragged it across the table with softly pressing fingertips. He carefully opened it, and the first picture stared back at him. It was the one of the view out the window, with the path and trees, with a single raven perched in the branches of one. Behind his new glasses, Austria's eyes widened although he only exhaled slowly. He dragged it out as Hungary overlooked what he was observing.

The next was revealed; a picture of the table topped with its gorgeous tablecloth, the quartz, and the papers that had been utilized as a logbook. Austria gasped at the next, where it showed Norway sitting and staring forward with a traumatized face while a bandage was wrapped around his head to cover his left eye. Pain could still be distinguished from the lines on Norway's face, although Denmark and Iceland were there and doing their best to comfort him.

Austria's heart rate picked up as he was brought back to this memory, and he could see it in full colour. His fingers lifted the sketch and moved it away, but then another horrifying picture faced him. He had not expected it, but it was obvious to him now that the pictures had not actually been in order. Now he was caught in shock as he gazed at the sketch of Russia crumpled on the rocks with his eyes closed while a dog bit into his arm, splashing blood onto the face of another.

Those who could not clearly identify what image he had seen could only regard his face and notice how pale it had become. Austria looked ill suddenly, as though he was on the verge of vomiting. Hungary reached over and covered that picture with the one of Norway, Iceland, and Denmark, then she hid that one away with the other two. She put them all away for him before closing the folder and tapping it back over to Kugelmugel.

Austria shivered slightly and touched his glasses, minding them although they had not needed to be adjusted. He could only think, _He looked so dead_ … and then touch his painfully clenching abdomen with his other hand.

"Keep them," Britain said, breaking the uncomfortable tension. "We need to be disgusted and scared of those pictures. We will need them if a time ever arises where we lose our humanity again and become insane. Those pictures should be used to remind us of what we are capable of, and deter us from ever doing those things again."

One response seemed to take care of it entirely. Kugelmugel took the folder and hid it away again in his bag.

Everyone heard the sound of Canada clicking the next email. He was soon reading the next.

" _Is the game over?_ " Canada asked.

Many were struck by the weight of this question. It was the unavoidable one that they had nevertheless, tried to fend off. The notion that the game had never truly ended despite the final note terrified them all, for it would only mean that their safety had never been guaranteed in the past year.

"It is not," Germany stated. "The mansion never mattered for the functioning of the game. The culprit was the one with the dogs and the one who made the ghosts turn dark. As long as the culprit is out there, who can say that this won't happen again in the future, when we think that we are safe? We believe that the culprit is a nation, so he has a lot of time to wait and plan again. Perhaps another strike will occur, although this only makes me wonder, what did the culprit ever truly want? He let the five prisoners go while he took his leave. He turned the lights on for that final fight, so that my group would have a chance to kill the dogs. Why didn't he just kill those five? If the culprit is as sadistic as we believe, then why were they not tortured or killed at least? Why did the culprit waste all of those years of training those dogs by just letting us win the fight?"

Britain said, "It did give him enough time to escape, although that is undoubtedly quite the sacrifice. That solidifies the hypothesis that the culprit is a nation, because then he would have much more time left in his life to train more dogs to replace the ones he so readily gave up."

America added, "I don't think he cared about the other five."

"If that's the case, why not just kill them?" Denmark asked.

"The culprit was methodical in who he hurt," Britain joined back in. "He hurt those who he wanted to capture so that they were too weak to fight him. He hurt those trying to save them, such as Spain. Finland was likely an accident, while Norway was used to spark rage in the Nordics. Latvia was meant to be killed or taken so that he would not reveal information about the culprit, although that failed, which led the culprit to becoming angered. Iceland and Liechtenstein had nothing to do with him. He used the Nordics to weaken Poland and Lithuania, and he injured France to crush any resistance to him. Everything in the attack was a delay of time and to decrease the number of people able to fight. So, as we can see, the culprit only hurt for a purpose. He never hurt for the sake of enjoyment. I trust my startling hypothesis that the culprit did not want to hurt anybody but Russia. Russia was the only person whose pain he expressed humor for. Russia was funny to him. He wrote _Hahahaha_ beside his name in the logbook."

"The game was only geared against Russia then," Switzerland said. "He set it up so that we would accuse him. He must have enjoyed watching us harass him at every possible moment until finally, it was us who hurt him."

"That must have been the purpose," Austria contributed. "The culprit did not want to touch Russia. He wanted us to do it. He turned us against him!"

"But then what?" Japan asked. "What happened next?"

"He made us believe at first that Russia had been killed," Seychelles replied. "The DNA test showed us that it wasn't him. If the culprit had killed Russia, don't you think that he would have proudly stuck his polished skull on a stick?"

"He wanted us to be concerned about Russia," Lithuania concluded.

Latvia whimpered, "Does that mean there is reason to worry then?"

"Or he wants us to believe that he has Russia, although he may not," Prussia said.

"Russia wouldn't hide from us, even if he was mad!" Ukraine protested. "He would have come home, at least to work."

"So he has him then," Iceland muttered, "and we have reason to be worried, if that was the reason for the skull."

"The culprit has had Russia for a year then?" America gasped. "Jeez, I do not like the sound of that!"

Canada murmured, "He spent years planning for an attack against Russia. Why though? Many of us have been enemies with Russia before, but we forgive such things over time. Who would put in so much time to cause him so much suffering?"

"Romania said that it is likely he is possessed- that Ghost fellow I mean," Britain replied. "He might have harbored a ghost inside him for decades, in which it would have become a part of him. If it was one of those dark spirits, then it would make any slight distaste for Russia heighten dramatically. I suppose this must be exactly what happened. The culprit then would become engrossed in the idea of harming Russia mentally and physically.

"He would have feverishly prepared, not in the right mind to become distracted by anything else, yet conscious enough to know how to keep himself incognito. He obtained traps and tranquilizers beforehand, and found inspiration along the way. The insane man thus read a book about insanity, and found parts to enjoy within it. Then he spent years training dogs to attack the forest animals and hikers to acquire a taste for flesh. He must have been cruel to them, after becoming utterly focused on his one goal. He was desensitized, and treated the dogs and the other five missing people as tools to get Russia. That must be the reason he let the dogs die and left the other five behind. He had the one thing he wanted, so whatever else remained could die or live for all he cared. He escaped with Russia."

"I want you to be wrong," America groaned. "But everything you said makes so much sense and is so well thought out that you gotta be right."

"And the point of capturing Lithuania and Poland was what, then?" Estonia asked. "If he had Russia, why was he doing the things still that would be framing him?"

No hands raised as all sat still for a few seconds in order to ponder solemnly.

Bulgaria eventually pointed out, "They were still Soviet-aligned countries."

After another pause, France said, "We should probably focus on Russia, for he is the goal. So then… what did Poland and Lithuania mean to Russia? Or the other Soviet countries?"

"He never really liked Poland so much," Lithuania commented.

"But…" Estonia murmured. "No matter how scary or harsh he might have seemed during that time period, I do not think that he intended to be cruel. I do not think he is aware of how he hurts other people."

"He considered everyone in the Soviet Union as family," Belarus muttered. "He was lonely when everyone left. He did not want everyone to leave. I tried to come back…"

"I know he cared about us," Lithuania admitted. "He thought that we were his friends. We always told him that we were, because we were too scared to say otherwise. I guess if we were hurt when he truly believed that we should not have been, he would be upset."

"Then do you think, that the culprit had Russia hidden away somewhere else, and he would tell Russia what he had done?" America asked. "Is that possible?"

"To aggravate him?" Canada tilted his head to the side.

"He was always very sad in the mansion," Ukraine said. "He told me he did not want anyone to get hurt. He only wanted to help get everyone out. Do you remember? He always wanted to be trusted and let into the _Investigator_ group."

"I told you guys that the culprit was weird before," Prussia spoke up now. "He was often cutting our hair and cutting our skin to smear our blood onto a cloth. I always just thought it was for his sick collection though."

"But instead he must have been showing everything to Russia," Hungary nodded. "To scare him."

"Knowing all this still does not link us to his location," America sighed. "We still don't know who this person is either."

"This all helps though," Germany said. "We might find that this information can give us insight as to where Russia is and who has him."

Britain said, "This is why we needed to talk. Right after we got out from that mansion, we crawled away like animals to lick our wounds and hope we would recover. We did not talk, especially not about Russia. Look now how quickly the conclusions arise once we put our heads together."

America cried, "Too much time has been wasted! We need to save him from that psycho!"

"But he could be anywhere in the world," Canada sighed. "Finding the missing people on one piece of property was hard enough, but the whole world? How can we expect to succeed with no leads?"

"Damn it, why can't we identify a nation with Ghost's description?" Romano asked. "Black hair. Purple eyes. Who the hell is it?"

"No one in the Balkans," Romania said. "No one there matches everything Moldova said."

"Is he a dissolved nation?" Germany wondered aloud. "Could that explain the anger?"

"I thought that," Romania said. "So I did some research, and no one looked like Ghost."

"Well, we all have to try harder," Britain said. "Pull out history books. Try to remember someone that we may have forgotten. There's no guaranteeing that this person is from that area."

"There was a voice down in the basement that sounded really Russian," Italy pointed out.

"That's right," Germany said. "He might be Slavic."

"Unless he did a fake accent to throw us off," France replied.

Moldova commented, "He sounded funny when he spoke Romanian. He had a Russian accent too or something."

"Ghost knows Romanian…" America pursed his lips. "Does that have to do with history, or only because he stayed in Romania for so long that he decided to study the language?"

"Fake or real accent," Canada sighed. "One or the other, as it always is. We can never pin down an actual truth about this guy. It is all just likely hypotheses without actual evidence to prove anything."

When everyone paused to consider everything that had been said to perhaps locate another piece of information that could prove to be useful, Canada refocused on the emails. The next up the list was one from _RedMoon31.10_. There were a few long seconds where Canada stared at the name while a feeling washed over him that was comparable to plunging into the cold waters of a midnight lake. He felt something ominous arising as his mouse hovered over that email. His fine hairs raised and the desperate, terrified feeling returned to him from a place of long ago; the fear received when standing on the higher levels of the mansion.

"Canada, what is it?" America asked after catching sight of a new expression crossing Canada's face.

"Something…" he began to reply, as he double clicked to open the email.

He had not known what to expect. It might have been some shocking message written in dramatic bold and italics. Canada was instead left stupefied as he saw that a video had been sent to him, with no text accompanying it at all.

America and Britain leaned over and glanced over his screen. Three hearts now picked up in beat for the other two had now been struck with the same heightening feeling of dread.

"A video," America stated, unintentionally explaining the situation to the others.

Canada opened it and raised the volume.

It began with absolute blackness. Somewhere within it, quick and deep breaths rasped that expressed rapidly augmenting fear. Then, a voice spoke that was distorted electronically from what was undeniably America's stolen voice changer for _Ghostface_.

"It begins today… Russia."

The lights snapped on.

Russia gasped as the darkness swept away and he was completely exposed to the remorseless white-faced mask that looked up at him. He shivered in his chains as he hung suspended with clamps on his wrists and ankles. His old costume had been removed, and now he hung in only loose, second-hand pants. His naked upper body was an art piece of pink and white slashes; scars in various stages of healing. He as well looked even more wretched due to his meager condition that was so severe that the word _emaciated_ better suited him. His ribs and pelvis bones stood out prominently against his pale and injured skin.

In the crowd that had amassed behind Canada, Ukraine sobbed, "R-Russia! N-No…"

No one had ever seen Russia reduced to such a form. His large frame seemed to have crumpled in on itself because of his significant loss of muscle mass. He had before appeared a pitiful mess after not receiving four nights of sleep, but that appearance had worsened countless times over. The rings under his eyes were deeper and darker, and two lines cut curves into the sides of his face where his skin had sunken inwards. The lips that were pulled back due to his fear showed stained teeth and discoloured gums.

The figure before Russia was dressed in a long, white cloak that disguised the form of the person underneath. He marched forward and looked over Russia quickly, likely impressed with the work that had been done on him.

The gravelly voice said, "Why don't you say something? All those who hate you are watching."

Russia jolted then turned his head to the side. He soon found the camera, and his eyes locked with those watching in the future. Russia still trembled, but he said nothing.

"You already know," the voice chuckled, "that they don't care about you. Good. You learned the truth finally, Russia. No one wants to help you. They'll watch you scream, and they won't care. Yes. Wonderful. You already know all this."

The figure swept away with the cloak dramatically flowing behind him. A metal screech came from behind the camera, before he returned pushing a cart onto scene. Russia panicked upon seeing what lay on the two shelves of the cart, and he thrashed in his chains. Russia had snapped his eyes shut, and he lifted his legs constantly and desperately as either an attempt to free them from the clamps, or to cover his vulnerable abdomen.

"You poor thing," he drawled. "So alone you are. You cared so much about everyone, but no one shed a tear for you."

Russia murmured, "You lie,-"

There was a cut in the video that erased the next words that came from Russia's mouth.

"You know that I have never lied to you, Russia. I only reveal horrible truths. Your sisters do not even love you. Ukraine fears you just like the others, and Belarus wishes to own you because you are an object in her eyes."

Russia was silent.

Back in the meeting room, Ukraine was crying, "No, Russia! Why do you believe him? No! It's not true! We care about you!"

From among the tools on the metal top of the cart, a white, gloved hand retrieved a recording device. A button was pressed, and America's snarling voice was produced.

" _Dude, everyone knows that you are messed_."

Russia stopped struggling. The same button was pressed again, and the same snarl came through. Then the finger shifted and another button was chosen.

" _Psychopath_ ," America's voice told him.

The culprit played with this button a few more times.

" _Psychopath_."

Russia's lips quivered. His head bowed.

"Psychopath."

Russia's ribs stuck out as he took in a deep inhale.

" _Psychopath_."

Then more followed.

" _Commie sadist_."

" _You got sick morals_."

Then the next that followed came over the sound of heavy rain and wind, although it was still recognizable to Russia and those hearing the audio secondhand.

" _The world is going to make you pay for your actions_."

"Indeed." The white figure with the black hood and doleful face paced around Russia. "You loved them, but you didn't even know how much you hurt everyone close to you. Everything they say about you is true, Russia. You are evil, you know. Cruel like a child; so unaware of the horrible things you do. I want to give you the justice you desire, Russia. I will show you what it is like to be helpless and scared. What it feels like to be _punished_. It is your turn now. I will break you so that you can never be strong again, and I will break you so that you will be the one who desires your own end."

The mask turned to the camera.

"I have played a game with him every day since a year ago," he explained. "I started with a paper cut. I asked him if I could kill him, and I will do it only if he tells me to. He said no. The next day, I made a cut just a little bigger somewhere else. Again, he said no. For a year we played, and he takes the knives and whips, still saying no. Now, things are going to be different. You have finally assembled, and now it is time to give you a show. So I hope now, that I can make Russia answer yes to my question."

Behind Canada, people were collapsing into balls of agony that emitted sobs and wails. A constant whimpering came from them and Canada's own lips as well, saying, "No… Don't do it. Leave Russia alone… stop…"

Ghostface's voice continued, "I will send a video every week. So, Russia, this will be only one episode every week with your regular lashings between. You will have some time to recover. I am merciful; more so than you ever were, beast."

Russia could be heard crying although his face was lowered and could not be seen. The gloved hand as pure as the petals of a white rose snatched his chin and forced his head upwards. Russia was obligated to show the audience the redness of his eyes and the tears pouring down his face as he gasped in more raggedly than before. Then the head was dropped and the culprit stepped away.

"Russia will suffer the major injuries that all those in the mansion had suffered. Again, one every week and of my choice. It will be a delightful surprise they can look forward to, right, Russia? They will be excited to see how I perform their desire for revenge upon you."

Another button was silently pushed to produce America's voice again.

" _You miserable piece of shit!_ "

Another.

" _You deserve to die_."

America cried out in present time, "No, Russia! I-I didn't mean all that… I was wrong… No, don't listen… I'm sorry!"

Russia was sobbing at this point. The white figure walked off screen, but then called out, "Look over here, Russia."

Russia quieted and turned his head to the side. In an instant he had seen something that the others could not, and he began to scream. The figure then marched into sight, bearing a steaming clothes iron.

"We start today," he said.

There was a sort of crank that the culprit turned that lowered Russia's body. Russia's shins hit the ground so that he knelt, still restricted, for the other. His arms were still raised and dangling to the sides. When the white-cloaked figure padded up to him, Russia clenched his fists and struggled once again in vain to escape. He grunted and whimpered, until the iron lowered and the scalding metal pressed down onto his hand. His sudden, frantic screeches were joined as those watching the video panicked. Russia thrashed and ripped his throat from his next onslaught of screams that came when his palm was forced open so that the entire surface could be burnt and melted when the iron pressed against him again.

The culprit was silent, but perhaps a grin was present behind the mask. The watchers could only assume this much.

The fluids sizzled over bright colours of red, orange, and black. Russia gasped and cried as the heat seemed to pulse throughout his body. He was given no time to recover before the iron slammed against his stomach. Russia's screams rose into a shrill note as his head whipped back. Sparkling tears dripped from his face as his head started to roll side-to-side. The iron was dragged to downwards to leave a trail of oozing red in its wake.

"Stop!" Russia screeched. "Please! Stop!"

Electronic laughter replied to this. The iron pulled away, with drying flesh and steaming blood sticking to its metal surface. The culprit breezed around to his other side. Here he forced Russia's hand open, and for his palm to face upwards.

Thirty-seven people were screaming. The culprit seemed to know this, for he let out a higher, more enthusiastic laugh before quieting it. A calm voice then spoke steadily, "Russia, do you wish to die today?"

Russia gasped, "Why are you doing this? Please… no… no…"

"Will you die today?"

Russia shook his head, crying, "N-No…"

The iron was ground deep into his hand, and the screams that followed were interrupted. It was here that the video ended.

Fresh cries of horror arose once everything had been cut off. It took a while before any sense could return to any of them. Once rudimentary logic returned, America was crying out, "We have to trace that! Where the email was sent from!"

"Send it to the authorities!" Britain chimed in. "All of them! We need to track him down! We need to find Russia, _now_!"

"Brother!" Belarus coughed. "No, no, no… Russia…"

"I'll save him!" America screamed. "God fucking dammit, I'll save him from that monster!"

Canada was trying desperately to regain control of his fingers. He struggled to forward the email to the right accounts of different bosses. Canada froze at one moment, crying over the keyboard and shaking from shock of what he had just seen. America snatched him and snapped his body back and forth in unintentionally harsh shakes. Canada faltered, and Germany lunged to steal away the laptop. He tapped in his boss's email address. After him, others came up and quickly put in their bosses' email addresses for Canada, writing as fast as they could however, to send the news globally from this one isolated room.

America's phone was the first to ring, and he scrambled to fish it from his pocket. He stayed where he was so that the others could hear his conversation. He gave a confirmation of the situation, that the email had been sent anonymously and had been in the mix of emails sent to Canada to be read today. America then cried out, "I can do the tracking right now! I'll find the asshole!"

He hung up while the other phones around the room began to rise up into a cacophony of music and ringing. America took over the laptop and quickly opened up the full header to the email.

"We'll catch this idiot," America growled as he copied something among the codes that had appeared. "He made a mistake right here!"

America opened up an IP address locator website. He pasted it in and searched.

"This is too easy," Britain said. "The culprit is smarter than to send the email from the same location he has Russia. The address might not even be in the right country."

"A library in Timișoara, Romania," America stated.

"I didn't do this at all!" Romania cried.

Bulgaria said, "Nobody's saying that."

Germany nodded. "He might have crossed the border by car or landed by plane from whatever location he has Russia, just to send the email from a random place."

"But he couldn't leave Russia alone for too long, otherwise he would die," France said. "So he must have just arrived to that location and would be leaving soon!"

"That email came from two days ago," Canada gasped. "It was one of the last to come."

"We can have the border guards to Serbia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Moldova, and Ukraine contacted," Romania said. "And we can get airport footage from not just Timișoara's airport."

"Call the police and get the footage from that library," Germany commanded. "Have them send it to us!"

Romania rushed to the task. The others were beginning to become eased now that progress seemed to be being made. Hungary now asked, "How did they get Canada's email address?"

"I…" Prussia swallowed. "I posted your email address on my blog for those who might not have known it."

"You put all the information up there," Canada said. "He would have known everything about this meeting."

"Then he'll keep sending these videos to you," Germany concluded.

"What should I do with them? Share them with you?" Canada asked.

Germany continued, "You don't think we'll find the culprit soon?"

"No," Canada replied. "I think it will take a while longer, if we are lucky. We couldn't even track down the culprit directly after he ran from the mansion. The police had stopped cars on the highway, but he was not found. He will be evasive as always."

"We can't let him hurt Russia!" Ukraine whimpered. "What he did to him was too much! Russia can't suffer something horrible like that again!"

"We won't let it happen," America hissed. "We'll save him. We don't want Russia to be tortured by that insane, possibly possessed man either, Ukraine."

"He's been through so much." She rubbed her arm over her eyes. "We have to help him. We need to take care of him and do everything it takes to make him feel better. He needs kindness; that's all he ever needed..."

"So much…" Canada whispered. "Yes. We will have to prove that we care about him. No doubt, he's been tortured with those audio clips to break his spirit. He'll think that he is alone and unloved by all."

"I didn't want him to think that," America sighed. "I didn't like him, but I didn't mean to really do this much damage. I thought he was the culprit, so I was being mean for that reason. I know he's innocent now, and I promise that I don't mean what I said. He does not deserve to die or be tortured!"

"But we do need to know what happens to him from now on," Britain said. "We need to know if he accepts his death, or if the culprit slips something that reveals the location. Send the videos to us if you are to receive more."

Canada nodded solemnly.

America was still caught up in his emotions, and was therefore still swearing.

"Damn it all! This is my fault for being so weak and falling for all of the culprit's traps! If I hadn't said all those mean things to Russia or just talked to him instead of screaming that I would shoot him, he wouldn't be there! I am fucking horrible. God, I swear I'll get him back. I'll be unbelievably nice to the dude and show him that how I acted in the mansion is not who I really am!"

"When we save him," Canada said, "I expect everyone to spend time with him. Treat him to good things, play games with him- anything that will make him happy. We must right our wrongs prevent one of us from being driven out of existence for the purpose of an insane man's game. He will not win. We will put an end to all this pain."

The others burst with passion after Canada's final hortatory words. This happy end was what they desired more than anything. They pictured now heroesque versions of themselves bursting into the place where Russia was chained, beating the cloaked figure, and stealing keys from off him. So many imagined being the ones to unlock the clamps and take Russia away to a hospital. They imagined all the things they could do to make him happy: give him baked goods, play many games, and for the greater good, they could offer themselves up for hugs for it seemed that Russia was rather partial to them. They chirped back at Canada promises that they would do all that he had said.

"We will have to wait for all the videos," Germany said. "And it won't be much use waiting around here. I suggest that we go home and work with our own authorities in finding Russia. Airports, borders, and even alerts to the public once we get a clip of him at that library. Tell the news; we know how obsessed the media is still about what happened at the mansion. In this way, we can help Russia."

"Yes," Canada breathed. He met Germany's gaze and accepted an equality. There was no reason to fight for leadership; they knew this well now. All suggestions would be evaluated no matter who they came from, and the more that came, the better. They all needed to focus on the main goal only and not get distracted by personal issues. They had learned this much from the mansion.

"Then the meeting's over?" Prussia gasped.

"We have to get working," Germany continued. "We must part ways now, to put in the utmost effort in finding the culprit and Russia."

They all understood this, and it came to be as Germany had put it. They found their way back to their cars or the airport, and then left with the sound of Russia's screams and the manipulating, sadistic voice of the culprit still on their minds. In addition to this, they still imagined every way that they would save Russia, and how sure they were that they would be so determined when they spent time with him to make him feel safe and cared about.

* * *

The video of the library along with others had reached Canada. The first clip was that of a toque-wearing, young man walking into the library at noon. He wore a thick sweater that gave him the impression of being a cozy, gentle person. He walked past the receptionists and made it to the room with a row of available computers. He was turned now so that he was in side profile to the camera. His details could be seen as well as what was on his screen.

His hair was tucked away under the toque, and his eyes were not a pale purple but instead were a pale blue. He set his bag down onto a chair and removed from it a USB. He put it in before easing his hand over the mouse. His movements seemed so calm and sure, so Canada wondered at first if this was indeed the culprit, and if the police had been incorrect to isolate this clip.

Canada then considered the time that the email had been sent, and he realized quickly that it corresponded to the native time of Timișoara in the video. Then, Canada watched how the young man went through the steps of creating a new email account. Canada thought now, _RedMoon31.10. It has to be a reference to the red eyes of the dark ghosts. Is that a hint that he is possessed? It must be. As for the numbers, 31.10, that is also easy. Day, then month. The 31st of October; Halloween._

The slightly visible lines on his forehead showed how utterly focused he truly was despite his tranquil act. The young man, who could have still been perhaps the age of a teenager, took a file from off the USB and dropped it into the email being composed to Canada.

 _So this is another nation_ , Canada realized. _He is as young as us. Those eyes though, are not purple. Now I wonder, is this the colour of his real eyes, or are those contacts? Or were the purple eyes actually contacts? He is hiding away his hair as well as to not be obvious, but is there any other reason as to why he is doing this? Could it be that he had dyed hair before? What if the combination of black hair and purple eyes is completely wrong? Could blond hair and blue eyes be possible? We will have to broaden our search._

Canada sent out this idea in private messages to the others.

The rest of the video showed the young man packing everything up and then leaving. Another camera showed him hopping onto a bicycle and leisurely pedalling away. He was spotted on other cameras crossing the city, but eventually he rode away into other cities, continuing on until villages swallowed him up. There he might have proceeded to take forest trails for an unknown distance. It was unknown if he had a car waiting somewhere along the way. Canada moaned in frustration that he had escaped the cameras.

 _But_ , he thought, _the moment he sends the next email to me, we can track him. Then the police will be sent into the area, and they will find him. Russia… he will just have to survive the next week and one more major injury. Then, it'll be over._

Canada became highly conscious of the days that went by from then on. He thought about how somewhere in the world, Russia was being harmed and his screams were unheard by all but one person. Canada thought about how the culprit was likely pausing partway through the torture to ask his daily question, "Do you wish to die, Russia?". He hoped Russia would put up with it day after day, but then Canada realized how many days he had been suffering through these routines, and he knew that Russia was surely becoming tired of it all. His condition was only going to worsen, and Canada knew that his healing abilities would probably be limited due to his physical health. He might even perish due to his treatment without ever agreeing to it.

 _One more, Russia. Be strong_ , he encouraged him despite how he knew that his thoughts would not reach him.

On the seventh day since the email had been sent, Canada obsessed over his email account. He was constantly refreshing the page, waiting for the first email to appear so that he could pounce upon its code. Hours passed with him staring at the screen. Kumajirou rubbed his nose against his arm whenever he wanted food, and Canada would struggle to walk around on his weak legs. He would get something for his companion while hardly daring to look away from the screen of the laptop he held in the crook of his arm.

Canada gasped when he received a message. It was from America, asking him, _Anything yet?_

Canada refreshed his email account again, then replied, _Nothing_.

He anxiously looked at the clock. Hours were still passing and yet nothing had turned up. The sun was setting, and Canada could only grow more worried. He thought about the time difference, and he knew that it was night in Romania. He wondered if that meant that the email would come in the morning instead, when Canada would be sleeping. After discovering this realization, Canada knew that he had no choice but to stay up.

The night hours passed so uneventfully for him. Canada felt waves of fear occasionally as he wondered if Russia had already gone through this week's surprise punishment. More messages were sent to him now and then, to which Canada would quickly send curt replies.

Canada received another message at four o'clock. This time, it was from Prussia.

 _Canada! He sent it to me as a PM on my blog while I was asleep!_

Canada gasped and slapped his hands against his face.

"No!" he cried. "No, no, no!"

An email appeared finally, but it was from Prussia. A video was linked, and Prussia had written here basically the same thing he had already sent to him. In this email that had been forwarded to all, he had also told them, _Germany says there's no evidence in this. Please, I really think you all should NOT watch this! Extremely gorey! Russia is alive, and the video was cut so nothing was revealed. But please, I'm telling you, you do not have to see this!_

Canada thought, _But something might have been missed._

He exhaled before ignoring Prussia's warning and proceeding to click on the video.

The light was already on in the room. Russia was hung again by chains, and gasping already, "Don't… Please don't… I am sorry for everything I did! No…"

"Did your victims ever say the same to you?" The pure white figure with a black and white head walked onto screen and swept around Russia again. He stopped behind him to poke at something on his back that could not be seen. Russia squeaked and bit his lip. The culprit then checked over the red still marking his hands and scrawny middle.

The culprit walked off screen, chuckling to himself. These chuckles continued eerily from behind the camera. Then, the gloved hands must have found the video camera itself, for now the view that Canada was seeing was zooming in onto the burn over Russia's abdomen. Once this was adjusted, the culprit said over the camera, "You never stopped hurting someone even after they said this, Russia. Why should I then? You need to learn."

Canada could no longer see Russia's face, but he heard how he began to cry.

"I didn't know any better," Russia whined, "but I want to learn to be good. I want to be nice! I want to be friends with everyone, a-and…"

" _Shhh_." The culprit appeared in the zoomed in shot wielding a large metal hook. "I know that you need to learn. I will help you, alright? No one else will. Trust in me. I am the only person in the world who is here for you."

Russia began to plead something, but the audio was cut again.

"I do hate you, Russia," the voice confirmed. "I help you to help others. This is the kind way."

The tip of the hook poked into his burnt skin, and a thick drop of dark red burst from him. Russia jerked and tried to lift his legs, but it seemed that the chains were drawn shorter today. Russia could not resist, and he screamed, "No! Don't-"

In a smooth movement, the hook swept across horizontally and Russia's diaphragm was sliced. Blood immediately washed down his front, and he screeched as the white gloves dug into the cut and felt his intestines. One hand spread the wound wide, and the other hand holding the hook poked the tip into the wound and sliced upwards then downwards to open it up better. Once everything could be seen the culprit carefully touched the hook against his blood-drenched organs.

"Do you want to die, Russia? Just say the word."

"No! No, please- stop, no!"

With delicate movements, the hook cut through membranes so that some of his guts slipped out the cut to hang wetly against his skin. Russia shrieked and his body contorted as much as the tight chains would allow. The culprit dropped the hook onto the floor then departed from his victim for a few seconds. The zoom on Russia's guts was adjusted so that now all of Russia could be seen. Canada watched with a hand over his mouth and stomach, seeing now how Russia's body glistened with sweat, and how he had become alarmingly more pale than before. He quivered and his eyelids were flickering as he fought to stay awake; to stay alive.

The culprit returned bearing a needle and a ball of string.

"Here, Russia," he murmured as though trying to comfort him. "We'll fix you up so we can go again later."

He fit the string through the needle's eye with his back to the camera. He kicked the hook out of the way, then stabbed the needle through Russia's skin. He began to stitch together the separated flesh sloppily, tucking in the guts and damaged membranes haphazardly back into Russia.

At this point, Canada could no longer see the gore and hear Russia's sobbing and screaming. He had collapsed onto his side and had left the computer playing. He quaked and clutched at himself, crying as he stared at his carpet. Eventually the culprit interrupted Russia's whimpers, saying, "They aren't looking for you, Russia. No one in the world cares about you."

That was where it ended this time.

* * *

 _Târgu Mureș, another library_ , Germany had told everyone in an email. _Hours away from Timișoara. The culprit seems to be in Romania, somewhere near these locations, perhaps between._

The culprit had evaded them all once again.

 _No, Russia cannot go through another week!_ Tears instantly pricked Canada's eyes and he had to suppress the urge to puke. _Who knows what is to come to him next? Not my injury… Oh no, not that…_

Canada told everyone, _On the seventh day, watch your emails, Twitter, phones, blogs- everything! We will not give him any time to escape! We will track him and have him apprehended by the police before he can escape!_

That left them with the only disturbing, horrifying choice that made them have difficulty sleeping. Russia had to suffer through one more punishment in order for them to receive something to track.

The video however, come a few days later than expected. It arrived in an USB, in a letter addressed to Romania.

Once again, they had been too late. The screams of horror and rage ensued throughout the world. The videos were brought to the attention of the news, and now more and more countries were becoming involved. Now, more than the adults who had been trapped in the Halloween party saw the videos. More cried, and more panicked, vomited, and stayed up at night thinking about the things they had seen and what they could do to find Russia or identify the culprit. The confusion about the eye and hair colour however, still made it so that no identity turned up even with the more people becoming attached to this case.

America received the video immediately with the dozens of others after Romania had viewed it. He sat alone, squeezing a pillow between his legs and arms, staring with circular eyes at his screen.

The voice said, "I found a new book, where I decided that you could be the main character."

Russia had his eyes closed and his head was hanging limply to the side. He appeared dead, until a finger covered in the fabric of a fresh white glove poked at the stitches. Russia gasped then glared at the other with a frigid gaze that hardly blinked.

"It is another book about insanity," he continued. "They are so… _interesting_. I like seeing what aspects can be reenacted."

Russia's head twitched in degrees to follow the pacing form. His eyes were still so deep and piercing. The culprit halted and flashed his attention back to him.

"What are you thinking?" he laughed. "Are you imagining what you would do to me if you were free of those chains? Savage monster, you are. I see a permanent coldness in you, through your eyes. Your soul is dark and cold like a land enduring polar nights."

Russia said nothing. He no longer shook. The cloak flapped as the young man left and then returned with the audio device.

"They hate you for it. They have given up on you too. No one wants to comfort you or fix you. The last option is for you to die, Russia. And you will. You will tell me to kill you."

Russia uttered, "I will not."

"I will make you beg for death."

A button was pressed.

" _You deserve to die_."

"Do you still think I am a liar?" the voice chuckled. "You know what I say is true."

He lifted the device and pressed the speaker against Russia's ear. He pressed the same button. Through the crashing of the rain on the roof, Russia heard the savage seriousness in America's voice.

" _You deserve to die_."

Russia's expression broke. His eyes became soft as tears gleamed over them. He looked away from the _Scream_ mask beside him.

"They aren't even trying to find you," the culprit continued. "They aren't searching. They aren't calling the police. No one wants to save you. They just keep watching to see when it ends."

"I don't believe that," Russia murmured. "My sisters…"

"They are relieved. Sad, I know. You loved them, but they were scared of you. They feel no fear now, like they can walk without a powerful threat constantly impending."

"They cared," Russia whispered. "Ukraine comforted me those nights in the mansion."

"As was expected of her. She was afraid of what would happen if she hadn't. That you would have punished her for not taking care of you."

The audio proclaimed, " _Dude, everyone knows that you are messed_."

"That's not true…" Russia tried to reply to him, but his voice faltered as he became hesitant.

"The truth is painful, but it is what it is, Russia. Consider everything."

His stitches were patted. Russia hissed through his teeth. When the culprit left again, the eyes that stared after him were no longer cold, but only sad.

Russia's first words were cut off, but then the rest of his words were heard.

"Don't do this," he whispered. "This is not you."

"But it is." The culprit worked with the chains to lower Russia to his knees. "I am the same person from that time."

The video cut again. The culprit seemed to have teleported to stand in front of Russia, and Russia's head had snapped up to look at him.

"You look so helpless," the electronic voice stated. "You are scared. Do you know what I will do to you now?"

"Please," Russia choked.

The culprit's hand glided over Russia's left cheek. The touch looked soft as first, but then the grip hardened. Russia twitched and tried to pull away.

"You might want to stay still," the culprit cooed, "or else you might get yourself more hurt than what I was intending."

The culprit brandished a small knife. A recognizable knife; the one that had been stolen from the mansion long ago. Russia's eyes widened as the culprit pressed his other forearm against Russia's cheek. The culprit's wrist turned so that the knife hovered over Russia's right eye.

"No," Russia whispered. "Please-"

A quick cut in the video had occurred again.

"Think about how no one is going to save you, and that you are going to die alone and unloved by my hands. Never look at me with that gaze again."

Russia thrashed, but he was soon caught in a tight hold. The knife then slowly descended and pierced through his pupil. Russia let out a shriek but then quieted as the knife sank deeper. His mouth was left in an "o" of surprise as blood and fluid snaked down the edges of his gaunt face.

"Do you want to die yet?"

The knife was yanked out. Immediately Russia tossed his head to the side away from the camera. A drop of blood splatted onto his collarbone.

"No…" Russia whispered.

"Pity."

The knife was stabbed into the muscle beside his neck. Russia made a wheezing sound, and the culprit walked away and soon turned off the video camera.

 _Another week of this?_ America's mind screeched. _No! We will just miss the chance to nab him! We're getting closer to the location, but the weeks will keep passing, and this will keep happening! And what if he switches location? He won't let us get near! He does not want us to find him, he really does just want to torture Russia until he asks to be killed!_

* * *

The next video came early to Canada's email on Christmas night. This was only two days after the third video.

It was fast. Russia was on his knees again, staring forward with one eye stretched wide open while the other was torn and rolled. His hands were in better condition, but every injury seemed to be healing agonizingly slow due to Russia's malnourished state.

"This will do it," the culprit said while approaching Russia with rope. "To keep you from dying, I will be gentler this time. I am merciful, Russia. You are incapable of such kindness."

Russia was trembling again. His eyes looked so sharp and huge as the loop was thrown over his head like it was nothing more harmful than a lei. He stared back at the culprit, into the black sockets of the mask, and pleaded, "Stop doing this- I understand now, and I won't be hurting anyone ever again! You can stop. Please…"

After a firm tug the loop locked around Russia's neck. Another tug for good measure, and Russia was left producing short choking sounds that likened clucks. His chained arms twitched, and his hands bent inwards in an attempt to reach his neck.

The culprit snuck around to Russia's side. He began to play all the options on the audio device beside him. America's vicious voice rang out over and over again, and Russia gasped more desperately for air as his crying demanded to break into sobs.

"Three weeks, Russia, and they will keep going by," he was told. "They still aren't searching, and even I am surprised that no one has cracked yet. You know though, that they have no pity for you. They cared so much more about the missing people. Prussia… Hungary… Belarus… Estonia… even Poland."

He talked slowly and smoothly, enjoying how Russia's struggling diminished the longer he spoke.

"No one in the world cares. Your boss uses you as a work tool, so he is only cross with you because you have been away so long. All the former Soviet states are happy. They feel safe, and they can't wait for the relief to come once you are dead. Everyone else is happy too, because they always thought that you were creepy and insane. I am doing this for them too, you know."

Russia stopped making noise. The culprit chuckled, then asked, "Shall I leave the rope on?"

Russia's lips shifted, but he could not make a sound. He then instead shook his head side-to-side. The small knife was produced, and the rope was cut quickly and inattentively, slicing Russia's neck in the process. The broken pieces fell to the ground as Russia's chest expanded deeply. The skin over his bones stretched, making his frame appear to be even more sharp and skeletal.

After obtaining more injuries, it was obvious that his body's condition was worsening rapidly as it tried to heal itself. His limbs were no longer thick and muscular like before, but were now thin and shaped to his bones. His middle had sucked behind his ribs, and his obliques curved inwards at the sides. Now even his collarbones that were nicked with scars and wet with tears stuck out below the red around his neck.

The end of the rope was being knotted.

"So, Russia, do you still hold hope that someone will come for you?"

"I do," he wheezed, "because you send them these videos."

"For their entertainment," he reminded Russia.

Russia appeared as though he wanted to say something, but his mouth closed again.

"It is true. No one cares about you. No one is coming for you."

The knotted end of the rope struck his chest. Russia cried out through his sore throat.

"Accept the truth."

He was struck again.

"I will stop if you say it."

The rope beat him heftily again and again until Russia no longer wished to bear it. He finally gasped, "It is true!"

The barrage slowed but continued. Russia had to elaborate, "I… I know that I am hated. No one in the world cares about me."

The culprit pressed, "You will die alone, Russia."

Russia was silent until he was beaten harshly again with fast and multiple, aggressive blows.

"I will die alone," he whispered.

Here the video ended. The viewing of it caused many in the world to become overwhelmed with emotion, and they collapsed like Canada did, to cry as everything seemed to near the end.

* * *

On the fifth week, the culprit smashed a hammer against Russia's kneecap. It was this week as well, that Canada and America travelled to Romania in absolute frustration of the continued inability to locate the culprit and Russia.

"Germany," Canada had said to him over the phone. "I trust you with my email account. I will give you my password, and I want you to monitor it. I will not always have internet, so I want you to watch it and be ready."

 _The culprit will not know that I am changing time zones_ , Canada had also thought. _He might send something again, thinking that I am asleep. Then Germany, who should be awake, will immediately see it._

Romania invited Bulgaria to his house to receive any mail that might be sent to him. Then, without notifying anyone else but their bosses, they stole away from their houses and met in Timișoara. They did not want other countries to know, or for their operation would be broadcasted by the news.

"He was caught on camera in Ștei, biking," Romania said. "The video has just been found by the police. This is north-east to Timișoara and getting closer to Târgu Mureș. So he is north, not south of these cities. He must be taking trails to stay off camera, but that means that it is likelier that a local would recognize an unfamiliar cyclist."

"How many kilometres is that?" Canada asked.

"Over 300."

"He must drive some distances."

"The bike was not the same that left Timișoara. He might be stealing bikes, and getting rides by taxis or cars he has stationed along the way. We do not yet know what he is doing, but he cannot avoid leaving a trail of witnesses. He is only relying on his speed and timing to avoid us."

"That one video leads us in the right direction," America commented as he stared over a map in the backseat of the car.

"His path is crooked to avoid attention and maybe to throw us off," Canada said. "But I have a few guesses as to where he might be. The culprit wants it to seem that he is putting a lot of distance between the places, and I think that's why the first location, Timișoara, was so far away. Târgu Mureș would seem far, but the sighting in Ștei might prove that he is actually close to Târgu Mureș."

"Would he opt to hid in a big city or a village?" America wondered aloud.

"In a city full of media and awareness, he might be suspected," Romania said. "In a village, someone new like him would be questioned. He would want a place that is populated enough to not be considered special."

"I don't think he would be suspected if he walked around wearing contacts and toques though," America pointed out. "People wouldn't want to accuse a guy based on his eye colour and clothing choice. They wouldn't call the police because they wouldn't want to be that asshole who accused an innocent dude. They would only embarrass themselves."

"If it is a city we are looking for then," Romania said, "Cluj-Napoca has over 300 000 inhabitants, and the neighboring cities have around 50 000."

"I see it here." America pointed at the name for himself. "It's north of all the other cities he has been caught in."

"Let's head there," Canada said to Romania. "We can quietly ask some locals here and there about him."

"It is still a big city. That would take a while!" Romania exclaimed as he stared forward at the road.

"Think about it," Canada said. "He would not want to be trapped in the most populated part of the city surrounded by cameras. He would find a quiet neighborhood, or would be on the outskirts of the city. He might buy food at a farmer's market to keep out of sight, or maybe he would pop into a convenience store."

"Wouldn't he buy food along the way back though?" America interjected.

"I don't think he would buy anything while he is on the run," Canada said. "He would leave a trail of witnesses and camera footage pointing to the direction of his departure."

"Or he uses witnesses to point us in the wrong direction," Romania sighed. "Although I don't think getting caught in Ștei was intentional. He might not have expected such a little roadside shop to have a camera and be investigated by the police."

"We should consider my hypothesis though," Canada said. "I say we should start at the edge of the city and ask around the local shops and markets ourselves. We will still keep quiet to the police as planned, because if we really are close, we might scare him off. Then we would have to start all over again."

"Right." America nodded his approval. "We should disguise ourselves a little too, in case he sees us and runs."

Romania tapped the wheel, then said, "This seems right. Everything that you are saying, Canada, seems likely. Cluj-Napoca might be a place that would attract him. To the west of the city lies the Hoia forest. It is called sometimes 'the Bermuda Triangle of Romania'. It is considered one of the world's most haunted forests, if not the most."

* * *

It took four more hours until they reached Cluj-Napoca, and by then it was night and shops had closed. The three of them rented a room in the Premier Hotel, a hotel that lay blocks away from the Hoia forest.

"I already don't like the feeling of this area," Romania said. "I come here sometimes, but never have I felt this lingering dark feeling. We must be close. I truly believe it."

As Canada headed to the bathroom, he said, "We can do it. I think we've finally figured it out. We'll find Russia soon."

* * *

There was a nervous feeling within them as they investigated the markets and nearby stores. They kept themselves well-covered with winter clothing, but still the fear was that the culprit might recognize them.

"We'll be fine," Canada often murmured as assurance to them.

America and Canada had removed their glasses, and Romania had put on a pair of nonprescription ones. As they walked around, he fiddled with them constantly.

"Don't touch them," America said. "You'll bring attention to yourself."

"I'm just using my hands to cover my eyes from the sides."

"Leave it. Just try not to look at anybody."

"Try not to speak either," Romania replied. "You're very loud."

Canada's voice was as soft as ever, but he let Romania do the talking due to the language barrier. Romania always explained the answers he received to them in English after they had walked away.

"Nothing, it seems," Romania said often.

They stopped pedestrians in the neighborhoods. While Romania talked to them, America and Canada checked the windows to see if any eyes were peeking out through the cracks of curtains out at them.

A girl being dragged along by an eager puppy was stopped by them. She appeared startled at first to be approached by three strangers, but Romania quickly explained in Romanian, "We're looking for someone. Have you seen a man like this?"

He passed a small picture into her hands. It was a shot from the video in Timișoara. She blinked at it then gasped when the puppy jerked the leash and caused her to stumble a few steps to the side.

"No, I don't think so," she replied as she passed the photo back.

"He might have black hair," Romania continued, "and either eyes like this, or pale purple ones."

"Purple?" she cocked her head.

"Lighter than his." Romania indicated Canada with a jerk of his head.

"Oh, hmm." She lifted her eyes to the sky.

"You might see him biking," Romania elaborated, "or wearing a hat often. He might be someone new who has just moved in."

"Oh, yeah," she said. "Someone moved in. I think he had black hair…"

A black-haired man had moved in with his wife and both had proven themselves to be Romanian citizens. Canada, America, and Romania went on, and the other pedestrians that they met were equally unhelpful. Their efforts that day did not lead them to find the culprit or Russia, but they had covered a lot of ground.

"When should we search another part of the city?" America asked as they walked back to the car with convenience store snacks, drinks, and sandwiches.

"Then can go to a completely different area tomorrow," Romania said. "Although I do have the impression that the forest would attract him."

"He might have avoided the forest to throw us off," America replied. "He might be across the city in that case."

"Then we'll spend some time on the east end," Romania decided.

* * *

Then however, the east end was just as fruitless as the west end had been. The third day in Cluj-Napoca included a scan of the north and south outskirts of town.

"I don't know about this anymore," Romania murmured on the drive back to their hotel. "We might be in the wrong city. He might have actually been in a city like Târgu Mureș the whole time, and he doubled back after making us think he was somewhere else."

"Then maybe he is south of Timișoara," Canada sighed. "We might be off by hundreds of kilometres."

"Should we leave tomorrow then?" Romania asked.

"We would waste time driving away if we were wrong," America said. "I still think that him being caught on camera in Ștei was an accident. I think he's up here, but maybe not in this city."

Canada decided to join his side. "In that case, we could check out the center of the city. Maybe he is assuming that no one will accuse him."

"He can't be in an apartment if he is torturing something," Romania said. "It would have to be a large house, in a basement."

"It looked like a basement in the videos." America nodded. "The walls and floor were made of stone."

They went to sleep as they usually did during these times; always with difficulty and minds full of puzzlement, stress, and dashing thoughts. Dreams came where they found Russia and took him to the hospital, so the mornings were painful when they realized that this was not reality.

That night, Canada's dream included flashes of their searches in Romania so far. He saw the little girl speaking with Romania, and he remembered Romania's amber eyes while hearing the translation. He was woken at that moment by their alarm, and he jumped up, startled, by the beeping. The others had reacted the same, and Canada turned away while emitting a sigh. He swung his legs over the edge of the bed and carefully set himself down.

His muscles ached from the hours of walking, still unused to it although he had been free from his wheelchair for many weeks. He dragged his weary body to the bathroom. It was during his time in this room that a possibility was realized. He remembered the last part of his dream about the little girl, and he thought, _Who said that the culprit just moved in? If he had been planning this game for so long, who's to say that he hasn't had the house with the tools and chains all ready for decades? What if he is not a new face, but familiar to the other people? They might not have considered him at all with the descriptions we have been giving them._

At breakfast, Canada said, "We should go back to the west end and change how we have been questioning people..."

He explained his idea to them that the culprit had not recently set up the place. They agreed instantly.

"That sounds more like it. You're totally right," America said.

They returned to some of the same places as before. Here, they were asked why they had returned, and the owners assured them as sincerely as they could manage, that they were harboring no one or had no idea whom the young man they were describing was. Romania eased them before changing his approach to Canada's modifications.

"Someone who has lived here for a while," Romania told one shopkeeper. "He might have a sort of Russian accent. Black hair, or maybe not. Do you know of anyone who dyes their hair? Or anyone who has purple eyes?"

The answer had been no, and the three only went on to the next place. So it continued for more hours until the day grew closer to its close. They had covered more ground today and had been more thorough, but the disappointment rose along with the stress.

"Everyday he hurts Russia." America slid his hand through his hair, gripping it tightly in frustration. "It's all I can think about as we go around the city. At any moment while we are questioning someone, Russia could be getting cut. He might even be screaming or crying right now, but we just aren't there to stop it."

"The culprit will not win," Canada affirmed. "We'll stop him."

"Any day the next video might come in," America groaned. "The culprit does not send one every seventh day. He sends every new week. This could be a Sunday then a Monday when Russia gets it."

A drizzle of freezing cold rain began and clung to their skin as they paced across the parking lot. They entered the hotel and returned back to their room, shedding their coats before they all flopped back in exhaustion onto the bed. Canada bent over and stretched, wincing at the tightness. He had grown so inflexible and could hardly reach his fingers past his knees. After a minute, he lay down and flexed and pointed his feet repeatedly.

Romania turned on the television and watched the news for a bit. Unable to understand what was being said, America shuffled away to shower and clean off the day's sweat. When he came back and found that the news was still on, he curled up on his side and stared at his fingers. Canada went in the bathroom after him, and soon was feeling so wiped that he cozied up under the blankets and fell asleep although the lights were still on.

It was ten o'clock when an explosion of music sounded from Canada's bag. Canada shot up with a sharp inhale, and America was quick to slip his glasses into his hand. Canada stumbled over the blankets while jamming the glasses onto his face. He clawed through his phone and hastened to answer it. He slapped it against his face and said, "Hello?"

"Canada!" Germany gasped.

"Germany? Why-"

"The video!" Germany exclaimed. "It came on your account, sent from Cluj-Napoca!"

Canada immediately exclaimed, "We're here! The address- please, now, Germany!"

America and Romania had rushed to get their coats and to locate the room key and the car key. As Canada belted out the address, America threw Canada's coat over his shoulders then dropped his shoes at his feet.

Romania hollered, "That's a few streets away! We were there!"

The door was slammed behind them unintentionally as they sprinted out. They burst into the stairwell and scrambled down the few flights of stairs then raced outside into the world of gentle, cold rain. They leapt into the car and sped off without any regards to seat belt utilization.

Canada's phone rang again. It was Germany, but now his voice was choked.

"I just watched the video! It… Russia said it! His spine… and then the culprit asked him…"

"No!" Canada cried. "No, he did not-"

"He did," Germany murmured so quietly that it was barely heard, "and that's where the video ended."

"No." Canada could feel his throat starting to clench and burn. "Please… no he didn't..."

"The culprit said this will be the last video," Germany whispered. "You must hurry."

Canada began to panic in the front seat after Germany hung up. America saw his reaction and had heard enough on this end to understand. America screamed, "God damn it, go!"

Romania gasped, "We're almost there!"

They made a sharp turn that spun the car wildly. They were all thrown sideways, but Romania clung desperately to the wheel and steered them onwards. Soon he slammed the brakes and his passengers shot out their arms as they crashed forward this time. Once the car was stopped, they erupted outside. They dashed across the sidewalk then a lawn on a beeline to the door. The lock was not tested, and America threw himself at it with a cry. It bust inwards and they lunged into the house.

At first they were disoriented because everything was new and unfamiliar. They trotted over the clean carpet into an orderly kitchen, then saw a staircase here that lead down. Their footsteps pounded down the long flight of stairs, then they leapt one-by-one the rest of the way to thud on the tiled floor of a hall. America, who was in front, saw the door at the end of the hall, and he yelped before sprinting. He crashed into the door, pushed down on the handle, and swung it inwards.

Everything was dark except for a single white square. America found the light switch, and the room woke up to reveal a stone-walled, blood-speckled room devoid of life. The familiar cart of tools lay near a wall, but the chains that had secured Russia before were missing.

"No!" America screeched. "Where are they?"

He jumped in front of the computer, but it only showed an empty email account with a confirmation note at the top of the page explaining that the email had been sent successfully. The video camera was plugged into the computer and hanging by the side.

"He revealed his location, so he does not plan on returning here. He left for good in order to finish off Russia somewhere." Canada hurried to stir up answers. "Somewhere isolated, where they would be alone! Where?"

Romania choked, "I-I don't…"

Then a look of understanding crossed his face.

"The Hoia forest," he said. "Poiana Rotundă… I think!"

They were soon back in the car. Romania recklessly turned them around and zipped away on a pointed direction.

"Poiana whadda?" America cried.

"It is a clearing in the forest," Romania said. "Supposedly highly supernatural. They say many things happen there at night. Here, no trees can grow and no one knows why."

"It starts and ends in the same manner," Canada commented. "So this forest is haunted?"

"People see and hear things so often in here. There are legends that make some believe that if you enter the forest, you will never return. The circle can be reached by driving. We will be fine. Only worry about the culprit; he is the true evil we should fear from here, and from the mansion."

A dark forest was approaching. They all breathed in deeply before they shot inside and were bordered on all sides by trees. The lights beamed ahead onto the trail that was dusted with snow in some places, and covered with puddles with thin ice layers in others. Branches crunched under tires as they sped on.

America pressed his face against his window, trying to make out shapes in the nearly complete darkness. The car went on for a little while longer before America swore that he had seen a black figure standing among the trees near the roadside. He pulled away from the window and shivered as memories from the mansion returned. His mind simultaneously whispered, _Don't be too late. Come on._

A sort of nearly palpable feeling hovered in the air. The horror of the mansion had reached them once again, sending tingles up their spines as though raspy breaths were blowing on the back of their necks. Together, their breathing shortened and attained a more rapid pace while their blood rushed in their ears. Hands shook; hot adrenaline was beginning to flow.

"How many minutes are we behind?" America whispered.

"Likely ten," Romania murmured back.

"That's too late!" America squeezed his face as tears escaped him. "No… Too much time… R-Russia, he's got to be dead by now!"

"Don't say it, America," Canada breathed. "With all of your heart, don't even believe it."

They stared forward at the beams of light that were fuzzy because of the drizzle. Romania swept the wipers occasionally over the windshield to clear away the accumulating droplets. Dirt and grass continued to meet the car, until a shadow appeared and the brakes were slammed. Canada and America were thrown forward again, but they recovered quickly to pop their heads back up and stare out at what was caught in the headlights.

Those in the car yelped as they watched the twisted form drag itself away from the light to conceal itself in the shadows. It became a darker shape in the blackness, shuffling through the trees alongside the car. America threw open his door and rounded the car. He heard a peculiar rattling and swishing sound as something slithered across the ground unseen behind the form.

"Stop!" America wailed.

A head turned in his direction, but the figure limped on. It crept around in the darkness, as though unable to touch light, until it was back on the road again. It continued on, leaving its back turned to America.

America yelled again and raced after the shadow as Romania maneuvered the car around. America was close behind the figure when the headlights of the car found them. America reached out and placed a hand upon a bare and bloody shoulder.

For a second, he stopped. Then, however, he muttered, "Don't touch me."

He dragged himself away from his touch.

America's eyes shot open. His arm stretched out as he stumbled forward, gasping, "No, Russia, please-"

The long chain looped around Russia's ripped and bleeding neck trailed through the snow and dirt. America panicked and slammed his foot down onto it. Russia halted before the loop tightened.

"Russia," America whispered. "I'm so sorry, but please, listen- you have everything wrong! We don't hate you! We- we came for..."

Russia did not turn to look at him. America was left looking at his exposed spine where his skin was folded over and stapled to his back.

Russia uttered, "To save me."

"Yes!" America gasped as his eyes watered. "We'll take you to the hospital. You'll get to go home!"

Russia stepped forward. The chain was pulled straight, and he gasped. America instantly released his foot, and as soon as this was accomplished, Russia trudged onwards.

"Russia?" America squeaked. "What- no, come with us! What are you doing?"

Canada hopped out of the car and hurried towards them as Romania made the car prowl forward after them. Canada had not heard their quiet conversation over the sound of the engine, even with the window rolled down. He arrived at America's side bewildered and frightened.

"Russia? What's wrong?" Canada exclaimed. "Why aren't you…?"

Russia paused upon hearing Canada's voice. He turned now and looked over him. Canada's expression grew frightened as he caught sight of Russia's torn eye. Canada pleaded then to him, "Come with us, please!"

"I heard about your legs," Russia murmured. "It is good that you are better now."

He continued to slowly limp away, keeping weight off his shattered knee.

Canada protested again, "Rus-"

Russia muttered, "You came to save me too."

"Of course," Canada replied gently. "Everyone wanted to help you, Russia."

"I understand," he said. "That sounds heroic. You would be satisfied with the headlines. I imagine it everywhere: _America and Canada, world heroes!_ and maybe something like: _Russia, on the verge of death, saved!_ then: _The weakened Russian Federation found and taken to the hospital!_. You would feel good. The world would love you."

America was dumbfounded. He choked out, "Wh-What?"

Russia breathed out impatiently before finally turning his entire body around to face them. They saw now the numerous scars and the crooked stitching over his front that was flamed with infection. Romania was startled in the car, as were the other two standing before him. The front of Russia's pants were stained with old blood, and a circle was splotched over his knee. Their stress increased as they became more desperate to get Russia into the car with them. He looked even frailer not under the bright light and in person.

Russia seemed to be the only person unaware of it all. His one functioning eye widened and his gaze sharpened in utter seriousness. He said in a hoarse voice, "But you will not get this honor. You would never have saved me. I was meant to die, but he miscalculated my strength. I took myself down from that tree. I saved _myself_. You would have all been too late. I want you all to know that."

Russia turned from them again and kept walking. The three were left momentarily petrified as he disappeared into the darkness again.

"No, Russia!" America exploded. "We did not come for any glory! We care! I was wrong! I do not think you deserve to die! I want to help you- I want you to be happy!"

Russia did not stop.

"Russia!" he screeched. "Believe me, it's true! Those tapes were lies! I did not mean those things!"

The chain only continued to be dragged across the ground.

Canada now shouted, "Russia, you can't go alone! You have to come with us! Please, it's cold out, Russia! Let us take you somewhere warm!"

Russia's voice floated back to them, "I will do that myself."

"You won't make it!" Canada cried. "Please, Russia! We care about you! People were crying for you! He lied to you when he said we weren't searching. We were trying so hard. We couldn't sleep, and the guilt of what we did to you affected us more than you believe. We hurt for you, Russia. I promise you!"

Russia moved on.

"He still doesn't believe us," America whimpered.

"Stop him," Canada uttered. "Don't let him go on."

He beckoned for the car to follow them. America and Canada raced ahead after Russia. Russia had started to turn his head, but the two had already grabbed him and were clinging tightly to his arms. In an instant, Russia's gaze flamed and he struggled. In his weakened state, it was easy for Canada and America to hold him fast, but this only infuriated him greatly. Russia growled, "Let go of me! None of you will save me!"

"Russia, listen," Canada said urgently into his ear. "We're going to take you to get treated. We're going to take care of you and be very kind to you because we care so much. Your sisters love you and miss you greatly. You have to come with us."

They dragged him backwards towards the car. Russia objected and thrashed vainly in their hold. His light body was easily lifted into the back of the car.

"Stop!" Russia cried. "I do not want this!"

"I'm sorry," Canada murmured as he slid into the back with him.

"You all would have been too late." The fire in Russia's voice had cooled and was now being reduced to a soft moan. "I thought it was over, but then I found one final thing to be hopeful about."

"We know you saved yourself," America said softly. "We'll tell everyone that."

Russia then dropped his head and whispered, "Maybe though… I did not."

"What?" Romania inhaled.

Russia sighed faintly, "I know that despite everything, there's only one thing left."

"One thing?" Canada murmured to him as darkness raced by them on either side.

Russia nodded slowly. Canada watched how his eyelids were starting to drift closer to each other. His heart leapt to his throat, and he touched Russia's arm while avoiding his cuts.

"Russia!" he gasped. "No- we're getting you to the hospital!"

Russia inhaled and stretched open his eye, but a sleepy expression still ruled his face.

"The news," Russia whispered. "It will not be kind to me. You will be considered heroes of course, who tried so hard."

The blood still leaking out from all over his body but predominantly from his neck soaked into the seat he lay limply back in. The pungent scent of dirt, sweat, and metallic blood did not matter in anyway, however. It had no value as Canada watched Russia's single, whole eye began to close again. As the car sped through the city, the lights ran over him repeatedly. His tears glowed as they trailed down his face, leaking from the eye that stared somewhere far ahead.

"Russia!" America cried." No, stay awake, dude! I see it! The hospital, it's right there!"

The eye could not be stopped from closing. Russia's parted lips allowed a soft exhale to leave him before he went entirely quiet.

"No!" America sobbed. "We're here- Russia! No, Russia! Wake up, dude!"

America twisted out of his seat and snatched Russia into an embrace. He was careful with his injuries, and his hold was tender and close. He cried and whined as he rocked Russia back and forth. Russia's arms hung loosely at his sides while his head rolled limply over America's shoulder. He was wet from the rain, and entirely cold. America tried so vainly to offer his warmth to him in the time it took Romania to drive up to the front of the hospital, but soon Canada was dragging Russia's body away from him.

"Canada," America choked, his head lifting to gaze at him with red eyes. "It's already too-"

Canada looked back at him with as many tears streaming down his face as America's. Without a word, he recommenced trying to pull Russia away to take him out the opened car door with him. America slipped into the backseat to hug Russia more closely, pressing Russia's frozen face against his. America rocked them side-to-side very gently once again as he emitted feeble whimpering sounds in his throat. Canada reached out again while Romania stood outside behind him, wiping his face constantly.

The final tears that had been shed were knocked off Russia's scarred cheek, dampening America's coat. He never felt them before they dried. Like many things in history, their presences went unnoticed, and they were forgotten by time.


	19. Epilogue: Ashes That Remain

_To be, or not to be: that is the question._

* * *

Gravel crunched underfoot as once again, the impressive size of the mansion was beheld. Hearty pines and budded deciduous trees bordered him on either side until the path broke free from the forest and more of the mansion could be seen. The multicoloured grass and large rocks were given regard before his eyes locked upon the door. From a window, a featureless face stared down at the approaching visitor, but went unseen.

His hand closed into a fist and his arm raised. Three solid knocks pounded the door, and then silence. Crows cawed in the distance, but this was all. The wind was silent today.

The door swung open after a minute. They met eyes, and for a few seconds could only stare at each other in silence. Then the visitor broke it, saying, "I would like entrance."

"You are welcome in," the other replied.

The visitor stripped himself of his coat and left it hanging near the door. He followed the other person across the hardwood-floored room to an area where the floor was smudged with old chalk. They came to the table that used to be in the front but was now returned to its original place here by the chairs. They each took a seat across from each other.

"You want to talk, I see," the host said. "Shall I prepare black tea for you? I bought many things. If you would like, I have a package of biscuits."

"Nothing," the visitor replied.

The host left him for a few minutes. In his time alone, the visitor checked around himself often. The foreboding feeling in the air was familiar, and he did quite dislike the coldness that dominated the room. Nothing materialized in his time alone, although above him, he heard a door slam. He held his eyes closed for a moment to sigh.

When the host returned, the visitor said, "You changed everything again."

"I am aware of that."

The visitor watched the hands of the host carefully. A cup of water was set down, and then the host opened up a cheap brand of packaged biscuits for himself. The visitor then watched the face of the host, observing intently the complete calmness that rested in his features.

"You are not worried about my presence," the visitor stated.

"Not in the slightest," was the reply.

The host drank from his cup. Once it was set down, he shook his head while allowing a smile to stretch across his face. Now, he added, "But I am so happy that you came back to me. I thought it would be harder to get you back."

The visitor muttered, "You do not have me."

A laugh. The visitor frowned.

"Well," the host continued. "Here we are. You look well; you surprise me. I won't underestimate you again. Next time, I will do it fast and not revel in the idea that I have given you a slow death."

"This isn't you." The visitor spoke as though he had never heard what the host had just said. "You have changed."

"Have I?"

"You shaved your face, and there are many other times where you have not been following your book. You have shamed your religion. This is not the fault of your people, so I know that the problem only lies with you."

A fresh grin was presented to him. The host said, "I thought you were dumber than that, Russia, but you seem to understand what is going on here."

"Your hatred is beyond what you are capable of," Russia said. "I know that you have a dark being inside you."

"Both dead and alive, am I," the culprit agreed. "We are one."

"You need to be strong," Russia told him. "Fight it. I know that nothing you were doing was really you, so you need to be getting this spirit out of you."

"Maybe you are not so smart. Russia, I do not want it out of me. I understand so much more now. I realized the severity of your crimes with the help of him."

"Lippovan," Russia whispered. "You must stop."

The purple eyes sparked suddenly with rage. White teeth flashed at Russia as he growled, "How dare you! You act as though you still have power over me! You think I will ever bend to your will again? I will never forgive you for what you did to my people. You banished us from Russia because you did not like our religion. You caused my people to suffer! We fled to reside in the neighboring countries. The priest who built this house was among one of thousands who left everything behind, and yet he was one of the ones who had it better. Do you know how many of my people committed suicide because of you?"

"Lippovan, I am truly sorry," Russia murmured, "but you must understand, that times were harsh back then. Our people were suffering often, but we have to forgive. If we cannot, then we have enemies forever and we will not survive."

"I am not going to survive regardless," Lippovan growled. "The number of my people only decreases. They give up the religion, and they move. They become Romanian, Bulgarian, Ukrainian, and often enough, _Russian_. They forget to speak Lippovan-Russian, and they learn your language instead. They go back to you, and they leave me."

"I do not choose your people's actions," Russia said. "Please, I am sorry."

Lippovan exclaimed, "As my people struggled to adapt- as they _killed_ themselves, I saw how you grew only more powerful! You had so much land, but here, I am split between different countries!"

"Lippovan," Russia pleaded. "I cannot change the past."

"You were cruel to those in the Soviet Union too!" he cried. "You hurt them, but you didn't care! It is obvious what you are. You are a monster, Russia. You have a heart of ice, and your mind is cracked. You know that everyone knows it. That this is why you are hated."

"I know this," Russia said.

Lippovan's rage cooled, and he was smiling once again.

"Excellent," he breathed. "You know that you are unloved."

Russia swallowed and did not deny this statement.

Lippovan slipped out a biscuit and bit into it. After he swallowed, he smirked and chuckled, "There's no purpose for you to be here. No one wants you to exist."

Russia's eyebrows furrowed.

"I hope this is why you came back to me," Lippovan said. "Because you wonder why you are still here."

Russia replied, "There was one final thing I wanted to do."

"What? Kill me?" Lippovan snorted.

"I want to fix you," Russia murmured, "because I know that it is not your fault."

"I do not want to be fixed!"

"Someone can help you," Russia said.

"I do not need help!" Lippovan exclaimed. "I understand you now, Russia. I am consumed by a desire for revenge, and I will have it. You will know the pain of everyone you have hurt. I want this more than anything else in the world. I will do whatever it takes to get to you. I will hurt everyone you care about. I will tell you about how they scream and how they bled."

Russia's eyes snapped into a frozen glare in an instant. His voice came out like a sharp wind carrying stinging snowflakes. " _You will hurt no one_."

Lippovan giggled after seeing how easily he had caused this reaction from Russia. He gasped, "Oh yes, this bothers you! Then I shall capture them this time, and torture them like I did to you! You will watch everything. It will be nice. Who then? Shall I take Ukraine this time? I wonder how her screams will sound. Or maybe an innocent Baltic? That might stir up some memories for you. Seeing me hurt them might make you realize how you hurt them before. I can hang up Latvia again, and this time you can watch him squirm. Or how about someone like Prussia? I know that you do not really hate him. I know that if I slam him onto a tablesaw, you will scream and cry."

Russia dove for him and Lippovan hopped away as the table crashed to the floor. The cup smashed and the water and biscuits spilled across the old pentagram. Russia lunged at him, but finally Lippovan brandished the knife he had earlier tucked into his pants and covered over with his shirt when he had left the room. Russia halted before he raced into the tip pointed at his chest.

"You are a fool for coming here!" Lippovan cried. He twitched as he let out a quick stream of hysterical laughter. Once done, he stared at Russia in utter seriousness while his eyes became dyed with a brightening red. They locked eyes after the irises had changed into a ruby shade and held crimson drops that swirled constantly around his pupils.

Russia froze. Lippovan chuckled.

"I can show you now," Lippovan whispered to him, "how dreams are taken. How hope disappears. I know it well, Russia. The ghost who lives inside me; I have his memories. It is terrible to see how the hunter's moon hovers over his - my - defenseless form. I watch my blood spill from the dagger wound through my ribs. I am alone, Russia. My parents do not know where I am, and they will never know how those strangers took away my life. Under the moon, I watch my dreams fade away with every drop of blood that leaves me. My hope dies as I see uncaring faces watch me, for I realize that no one in the world will save me, and that no one who cares can hear my screams. Oh, how I, a poor child, suffered. It is a cruelty without compare, and Russia, I want to show it to you too. So, gaze deeper into my eyes. You will see here hope, so be captivated by it, and know that you will lose everything."

Lippovan raised the knife high behind his head, positioning it to strike. He touched his other hand on Russia's shoulder. Lippovan smiled, and added, "I always wondered what would happen if a nation is killed while their people still thrive."

He shot down the knife but gasped when his wrist was snatched. Russia pushed forward, and Lippovan faltered, stumbling backwards.

"We can answer this question," Russia uttered.

Lippovan yelped as the powerful grip tightened on his arm. His ankle rolled and he slipped back to fall onto his rear. The knife fell from his grasp and clattered to their side. Lippovan's eyes widened as Russia lowered himself and neared him.

The eyelids blinked rapidly over the bright red. Lippovan stared back into horrifyingly cold eyes, and he squeaked, "But how? You-"

The bones in Lippovan's arm snapped. He shrieked and his vision blurred for a moment. Russia took the time to sweep around behind Lippovan and catch him in a headlock. The arm that was barred across his throat pressed in tightly, and Lippovan struggled and cried out as he felt himself suffocating.

"Lippovan." Russia's voice chilled him to the core, although he was already cold to the touch. "Didn't you know, that I have nothing left to hope for?"

Tears swept down Lippovan's cheeks. He panicked, but Russia held him tighter. His strength had returned, and now Lippovan could only writhe vainly in his hold until his movements grew weaker. He felt the warmth of Russia around him, for he was pressed right against him as though in an embrace.

The arms removed themselves. Lippovan gasped and his head swayed. His relief was short-lived however, as Russia's hands placed themselves in precise spots on his head. Lippovan understood immediately, and screamed, "No, Russia! Please!"

His voice sounded different now; it was no longer so dark and sure. The hands however, pressed into his head painfully. Lippovan stared forward as he reached up his hands, crying profusely.

"Russia, no! Don't-"

Russia twisted his head sharply, and after a snap, Lippovan was silent. He dropped him, and Lippovan flopped lifelessly onto the floor. His teary, wide eyes stared blankly away, with irises half red and half pale purple.

Russia regarded his body for a minute, before the ice thawed and his heart rate started to pick up. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped in horror. His breaths came out hot and fast as white heat overwhelmed him.

Tears broke over his face as Russia wailed, "No, wait-"

He dove forward and scooped Lippovan into his arms. Lippovan fell back limply over his arm, and his unblinking gaze looked up at Russia as his head rolled back.

"Lippovan," Russia choked. "Wait, Lippovan… I didn't mean to…"

The mouth that hung partially open did not reply. Russia trembled and let in a hissing inhale between his wavering lips. His mouth then widened as the inhale caught and then was released as a broken sob.

"No!" Russia screamed. "No!"

He shook Lippovan harshly, but the body only flopped about to follow his bidding. Russia slapped a hand over his neck, but there was no pulse to be felt.

"Lippovan," Russia bent his head over him and sobbed. "I-I'm so s-sorry… Pl-Please…"

Russia hugged Lippovan tightly and cried loudly, his wails reaching some of the higher and lower levels. Shadows made appearances, as they were attracted by the powerful emotions, but they had no need to come near. Russia saw none of them, and he only closed his eyes and rubbed his cheek against Lippovan's. His nuzzles tilted the other's head, but Lippovan still could not be roused.

"I did not come here to kill you," Russia sniffed. "This was an accident, I-I don't know why I-"

But then he heard America's voice in his mind.

 _Dude, everyone knows that you are messed._

Russia gasped and sobbed harder.

 _What's wrong with me?_ he thought. _I killed him…_

 _Psychopath._

Russia ran his hands all over Lippovan's back as though trying to give him comforting strokes. One of his hands found his hair, and he caressed his scalp and let the hair that likened a colour like his own run through his fingers.

 _I am horrible_. His eyelashes blinked away the teardrops clinging to them. _I really am a monster._

 _You miserable piece of shit!_

 _I deserve to be hated_ , Russia thought. _He's right._ _I am a terrible person._

America cried out in his mind, _There is no reason for anybody to trust you!_

 _I cannot be trusted_ , Russia realized as he held Lippovan's corpse in his arms. _Look at what I did. America, you are right. You are so right._

He heard Lippovan again, with Ghostface's voice.

 _No one in the world cares about you._

Russia nodded to himself as he dug his arms under Lippovan's armpits to enclose him into a hug.

 _I am insane_ , Russia thought. _I hurt people without meaning to. I am as horrible as Lippovan and America said, and as everybody else thinks. No one trusts me, and they should not. No one loves me, and I know that they are right to feel this way. I should not exist. I do not deserve to exist._

America agreed from a memory, _You deserve to die._

 _Yes. I am unloved by all, and a danger to everyone else. Lippovan was right. I need to die alone. I must feel this suffering and pay for what I have done._

Russia placed his fingertips over Lippovan's eyelids and carefully pulled them down. Lippovan stopped looking so terrified, and now he looked to be at rest. Russia gently set him down before he retrieved the knife from off the floor and turned it on himself.

 _I don't know how hard it will be._

Russia squeaked as he pierced the knife through his ribs. His body pulsed with adrenaline and suddenly he could hardly see. He tried to force the knife deeper, but his shaking hands and the slippery blood caused the knife to slip out from him and drop from his grasp. Russia was petrified for a moment as blood burst from his wound. His blurry vision saw dark red expanding over his front.

He grabbed the knife again and put all of his energy into holding the handle tightly. He breathed heavily before crying out then jamming the knife into his chest. His head snapped back and he choked. Tears flew off his face while he tapped the handle, trying to urge the knife deeper. His hands touched over the wound and hot blood washed over them. He yanked out the knife to let the blood pour out.

His soaked hands slipped over the handle, but he managed to grab it again in a solid grip. He sobbed as he lined up the tip with his erratic heart. His arms snapped inwards, and the knife seared through his skin. The tip searched for his heart, and Russia screamed as he tried to guide the knife into piercing a hole into it.

His wounds burned; the blood leaving him was absolutely painful. Russia cried uncontrollably as his mind screamed, _It hurts! It hurts so much!_

He was startled suddenly by the knife's proximity to his heart. He pulled it out quickly and waved it, wanting to throw it away but was unable to. The blood flicked off the edge and let a trail of drops splatter across the floor.

Russia realized how alone he was, and that no one was here to comfort him or stop him. He screamed to the ceiling after realizing this, then dropped the knife to snatch up Lippovan again. He drenched the other with the blood pumping out of him and he hugged him desperately.

"Lippovan!" he moaned. "Lippovan, it hurts so much…"

Lippovan slipped from his hold. He fell onto his back and showed how his clothes were now wet with Russia's blood. When Russia saw this, he panicked as he realized how much was now coming out of him. His hands patted over the three major stab wounds frantically. Russia cried out as he let himself fall backwards. As he lay there quivering and whimpering, a puddle began to form under him.

"It hurts," he sobbed as he now attempted to hold it all in. "It hurts so much."

The pain of the wounds were now numbing, and Russia was now referring more to the feeling of being alone and the thought of being uncared for.

"I wanted friends," he whimpered. "But no one… no one in the world loves me. My sisters do not… they do not love me…"

Yet as he lay there still, memories of what had occurred here in the mansion over a year ago came back to him. His head turned to the side so that he could get a view of the floor in front of the staircase. It was still covered in blankets and pillows; Russia could see the very spot he had laid down, spending hours trying to sleep. He remembered Ukraine alongside him, petting his hair and whispering to him that everything was going to be alright. He remembered Belarus becoming worried over his health.

Russia stared at where they had slept, thinking, _Were they acting during that time? Did they do it because they were scared of me?_

It was so much easier to recall now that he was looking at the room.

 _Ukraine's touch was so kind. I felt safe and calm. I felt so loved… maybe, she does love me?_

Russia slowly slipped his red hand into his pocket and took out his phone. He blinked at the time 3:40, before unlocking the phone. Russia punched in her number, and lifted his shaking hand to his head. As the rings sounded against his ear, his breathing increased.

"Ukraine," he mewled. "Pick up! Don't you love me, Ukraine? Why aren't you answering?"

She never answered. Russia let out a scream and dropped the arm holding the phone to the side while raising the other to place over his eyes. He sobbed for a few seconds before rolling over and finding the knife. Russia dragged himself backwards until he found a wall he could slump against. He turned the knife again and pricked his chest in a new spot, wailing as more blood erupted over the metal. He dropped the knife by accident before the wound was made deep.

"Someone, please," he moaned. "Save me…"

Russia pressed other numbers into his phone. His thumb smeared the screen entirely with blood. He leaned forward over his wounds, and held the phone to his ear.

After a few rings, a voice came through.

"Russia?" Belarus asked.

Russia broke. His breaths shuddered out of him, and he began to bawl. Belarus panicked and cried, "Brother! What happened? Where are you?"

"Belarus," he sobbed. "My little sister, Belarus…"

Belarus was clenching the phone desperately. She gasped, "Russia! Are you okay? Russia!"

"Help me," he whispered as his other hand rubbed the blade of the knife over his skin. "It hurts so much."

"What are you doing?" Belarus caught on. "Stop, Russia!"

Russia winced as his flesh sliced cleanly and multiple capillaries bubbled out blood.

"Am I an object to you?" he murmured.

"No!" she screamed. "Russia, that's not true! The culprit lied to you!"

"Lippovan…" he whispered. "I killed him."

"Russia, it's okay. He couldn't be helped."

"I am a horrible person."

Belarus's voice cracked as she said, "No, Russia. No…"

Russia blinked. He stopped tracing the knife over his scars as he asked, "Belarus, are you crying?"

His eyes shot open as she yelled at him in a tear-strained voice, "Of course I am! You are hurting yourself!"

Russia stuttered, "B-Bela…"

"I care about you," she cried. "Ukraine cares about you. We love you, Russia. So many people cried for you."

The knife fell from his hand.

"Do you mean that?" Russia whispered. "Don't lie to me. Tell me."

Belarus exhaled, "Russia, I love you. Other people care about you too."

"Not as an object?"

"Not as an object," Belarus confirmed. "We want nothing bad to happen to you. We are sad when you are hurt. We do not want you to die."

Russia closed his eyes.

"Can you tell me again?" Russia murmured.

Belarus said, "People care about you, Russia."

Russia pressed his face into his hand, crying while his face was painted.

"Where are you?" Belarus asked.

"At the mansion," Russia mumbled.

"I'll call for help, and then I am coming to get you."

Russia brought his legs in so that he could have something to hold with his one free arm. He tossed his head to the side, then murmured, "One more time, please…"

Belarus then told him, "I do love you, Russia. You know I do."

"I believe it," he said quietly.

"I am going to go now," Belarus said. "Please, don't hurt yourself again."

Russia hummed a confirmation to her. When she spoke to him again, her voice was as gentle as Ukraine's. It was odd for Russia to hear her talk like this, but it was comforting more than anything.

"Goodbye, Russia," she said. "I'll see you soon."

"Goodbye, Belarus," Russia sighed. "I love you too."

 **The End**


End file.
